Asace-Aubrac stele

'In silence and solitude one only hears what is essential'.
This contemporary sculpture, created after the encounter between a man from Auvergne and another from Alsace, both passionate about regional traditions and the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, was put up in 2006.

Porte de la Miche gate

These two stones are all that remains of the main entrance to the Domerie. According to tradition, every day the monks would give out bread to the poor - hence its name (a miche is a loaf of bread).
It was one of the reconstructions around 1700, a time when the work done by the Domerie moved towards helping the needy in the region.

Notre-Dame des Pauvres church

In this building there are many signs of what the old hospice (1198), turned into a church between 1332 and 1356, was like. At the far end of the nave, a fountain must have been used for the symbolic washing of pilgrims' feet. The very bare Romanesque architecture is in perfect harmony with the simplicity of the place.
It includes a pointed barrel vault, made of perfectly joined stones, that is held up by simple, slightly ribbed arches; no transept; a chancel enclosed by a wall instead of being continued by an apse.
This is the only hospital building from the 12C that has survived in such good condition.
The bell tower, added in the 15C, shows evidence of a rib connecting the old two-storied cloister. It houses the famous 'bell of the lost' [campana dels perduts] and an unusual feature: the place where the bell ringer lived and an indoor bread oven.

The bell of the lost

« Deo jubila, Clero canta, Demones fuge, Errantes revoca, Maria » ('Shout for joy to God, Sing for the cleric, Drive out demons, Summon the lost, Mary').
The engraving cast into this bell, called the bell of the lost, refers, of course, to those who have gone astray spiritually. We cannot rule out the fact that it might also have been rung to guide people lost in bad weather.

This is the only hospital building from the 12C that has survived in such good condition; the one in Roncevalles, designed along the same lines, saw its vault collapse under the weight of the snow.
The solidity of this building comes from a light volcanic tuff being used for this part of the structure.

DOMERIE D’AUBRAC Géolocalisation

The Domerie d'Aubrac, a former hospital monastery welcoming pilgrims on the way to Santiago de Compostela, expanded between the 12C and 16C. It then went into decline and after that suffered the destruction brought about by the Revolution. The plan below shows, through the current urban fabric, the extent of the Domerie buildings at its peak and the structures still visible today: church (A), bell tower (B), tour des Anglais tower (C) and the hospice (D).

The Aubrac plateau in early times

Around eight million years ago, the Aubrac plateau would experience a major volcanic event. The old Hercynian basement* was covered with multiple outpourings of basalt lava (volcanic rock).
The alternation of hot and cold weather patterns would then change this initial volcanic landform profoundly. The last ice age (25,000 years ago) would provide the ultimate finishing touch. The typically glacial relief is clearly visible above 1,000m: humps and hollows characteristic of plateau glaciers, ice-laid drift and erratic boulders and U-shaped valleys.
Around 18,000 years ago, the glaciers disappeared gradually, but the climate remained extremely cold. The landscape was nothing but a desert of stones.
It was only from around 12,000 years ago that the climate gradually began to get warmer. The vegetation, initially steppe-like, would little by little change to forest. Depending on the altitude and exposition, beech groves would grow in cold positions (plateau and north-facing sides of valleys) or oak on the warmer side.

* The Hercynian basement is formed of deep-lying rocks from the Hercynian mountain chain. Laid bare, today it reveals schist, mica schist, gneiss and granite.

A mountain climate

The particularly harsh climate on the Aubrac plateau is of mountain type.
The altitude, the north winds – known as la bise and l'écir which brings snow [bisa, ecir] - and the large amount of rainfall due to the influence of the Atlantic, make snow and frost present throughout the winter.
There are up to 150 days of frost per year and snow can fall as early as October through to May. These features have made it possible to preserve part of the flora from the boreal and mountain group that has survived from the last ice age.

The village of Aubrac

[lo vilatge d’Aubrac]

A surprising place and an evocative name: you are in Aubrac, the highest village on the plateau (1,303 m). There are only 10 inhabitants and yet this 'capital' is a living, breathing space amid the splendid solitude of the plateau to which it gave its name. Aubrac's existence began at the beginning of the 12C, on the Route to Santiago de Compostela. A group of knights took up residence here to protect pilgrims from brigands. As this pilgrimage was becoming increasingly important, a hospice was built. The Domerie d'Aubrac would prosper until the end of the Middle Ages, welcoming thousands of pilgrims and travellers, working vast areas of farmland that helped develop the plateau and the surrounding land Did you know that two of the seven sections of the Route to Santiago de Compostela in France inscribed on the World Heritage List are in Aveyron? There are also four bridges inscribed and Sainte Foy abbey-church in Conques. This represents a remarkable heritage which stretches out over 80 km, from the Aubrac plateau to the Lot Valley. A flow of pedestrian travellers has carved out its path in this landscape.
The Routes to Santiago de Compostela are both unique and universal: they have been fashioned for over 1,000 years in step with feelings, chance encounters and a sense of sharing.

(such as the spectacular ferme des Bourines farm on the causse, near Laissac). The Revolution destroyed most of the buildings, but not the agricultural foundations established over the centuries.

Lying on the borders of three départements (Aveyron, Cantal and Lozère), Aubrac would continue to occupy a strategic position for its livestock fairs and when transhumance took place. The large buildings that surround the square date back to the early 20C. They were built to accommodate the people who came to breathe the fresh air and enjoy the health-giving effects of a whey cure (these people were called gaspejaires).
Today, the village has developed its tourist attractions around this particularly well-endowed heritage.
The developments made in order to promote the Route of Santiago de Compostela will allow you to discover the main elements (see map). They are in addition to the Botanical Gardens and the Maison de l'Aubrac Visitor Centre to give you a better understanding of this area.

Tourism and handicap

There is a touch table for the visually impaired at the entrance to the Domerie (figure 2 on the map, 100 metres away).
The whole discovery trail in the village centre is accessible to people with reduced mobility.

Did you know that two of the seven sections of the Route to Santiago de Compostela in France inscribed on the World Heritage List are in Aveyron? There are also four bridges inscribed and Sainte Foy abbey-church in Conques. This represents a remarkable heritage which stretches out over 80 km, from the Aubrac plateau to the Lot Valley. A flow of pedestrian travellers has carved out its path in this landscape.
The Routes to Santiago de Compostela are both unique and universal: they have been fashioned for over 1,000 years in step with feelings, chance encounters and a sense of sharing.

Unesco World Heritage

The year was 1945. The world was awakening from a nightmare that had gone beyond the bounds of horror. On 16 November, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was set up by the League of Nations.
Its aim: to build peace in the minds of men through education, science, culture and communication in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom for everyone, regardless of race, gender, language or religion. The 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage served UNESCO's ideal of peace and dialogue. Inscription on the World Heritage List consists in identifying, protecting and preserving, throughout the world, the cultural and natural heritage deemed to have exceptional universal value.
World Heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the world. There are currently nearly 1,000 'Properties' in 160 countries inscribed on the World Heritage List. France has 38 inscribed Properties.

The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

In the pious Middle Ages, making a pilgrimage to a holy place, and the relics of the martyrs this place housed, was an essential deed in the life of a believer. The relic of a saint perpetuates his presence and his favourable influence. It provides protection, cure, succour and so on. Saint Peter, Saint Paul, the first Christian martyrs in Rome, the sites of Christ's life and passion in Jerusalem, attracted pilgrims from all over the Christian West. Around 830, the relics of the apostle James, beheaded by Herod in Palestine in 44 A.D. were miraculously discovered in Compostela (Galicia, Spain). The difficulties encountered by Christians to make their way to the Holy Land, together with the symbol that James the Apostle represented in the Reconquista*, drew the West's attention to this tomb that became one of the major pilgrimages right from the end of the first millennium. Thousands of pilgrims, kings, bishops and ordinary men carried out the journey to Galicia to meditate at the tomb of one of Christ's closest companions.
Four symbolic routes epitomized the countless routes that pilgrims converging on the Pyrenees used to follow. As they wended their way, they visited the many sanctuaries and called upon a litany of saints. They fulfilled their devotions and found charitable assistance.
Their routes played an essential part in trade and religious and cultural development during the Middle Ages.
The many buildings and places of worship that lined these routes are still evidence of that today.

* Reconquest of Muslim kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula by Catholic rulers between 718 and 1492.

The Route in Aveyron

In 1998, the 'Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France' were inscribed on the World Heritage List because of their exceptional universal value.
This inscription took the form of a selection of 71 buildings and 7 stretches of the way which bore witness to the routes and places frequented by pilgrims wanting to go to Santiago de Compostela. In Aveyron, several edifices are recognised as World Heritage because they are outstanding landmarks on the route followed by pilgrims:
the bridges over the Boralde in Saint Chély d'Aubrac, over the Lot in Espalion and Estaing and over the Dourdou in Conques; Sainte Foy Abbey-church in Conques, a place of pilgrimage in its own right dedicated to young Sainte Foy. Pilgrims on the Way of St James, referred to as jacquets, were advised to visit it as early as the Middle Ages;

Nasbinals (Lozère) / Aubrac / Saint-Chély-d'Aubrac : 17 km from the Aubrac plateau to its foothills; Saint Côme d'Old / Espalion / Estaing: 17 km along the Lot Valley.

Facilities for you

Between Aubrac and Conques, the local authorities of the area that the Puy en Velay route to Santiago de Compostela (GR®65) runs through have carried out a series of developments to help you discover this pedestrian and cultural route that is laden with meaning and history. Information boards line the 80 km section of the route. They will provide you with the tools to discover the heritage that is visible from the route (Romanesque monuments, landscape, geology, rural life, etc.)
A multimedia application (to download free of charge to smartphones and tablets - see below) helps to guide you and give you information about services (accommodation, food, visits, etc.).
You will find extra information on the elements to discover.
Facilities have also been designed for the safety and well-being of users: picnic areas, waterless toilets, footpaths alongside roads, signposts, path maintenance, etc.

The GR® and how to use it

The greatest care is taken to maintain the route and to welcome you in our villages so that the walk is a pleasant one for you. Nevertheless, you are responsible along the way.
Please take your rubbish away with you. There are lots of litter bins and toilets along the route.
The best way to observe nature is to respect it (no loud noises or shouting, avoid walking in big groups, etc.). Do not pick flowers, do not disturb the wildlife and herds of livestock. Respect fencing and private property.
Even on foot, please abide by the Highway Code. Warning: in foggy weather, some routes may be dangerous. Start when the fog has lifted or walk along the side of the roadway.
The route is a way to open up to nature, the life of the inhabitants and the traditions and history of the towns and villages you go through:
the people of Aveyron invite you to share their convivial way of life, be curious and feel free to talk to the people you meet!

Information: Aubrac-Laguiole Tourist Office: 05.65.44.21.15 or 05.65.44.35.94 / www.aubrac-laguiole.com Comité Départemental du Tourisme de l'Aveyron (Aveyron Tourist Board): www.tourisme-aveyron.com

Towards the present day landscape

As early as prehistoric times, the great forest covering the Aubrac plateau lost ground because of man's action to conquer new land to rear his livestock. The wide-open spaces we see today are the result of thousands of years of deforestation and slash-and-burn techniques. This does not in any way detract from their splendour and, on the contrary, contributes to an exceptional biodiversity.

The work of the monks in Aubrac

Deforestation of the plateau began around the Bronze Age. Designed to create pasture land for the flocks of sheep [tropèls de fedas] travelling along the two major drovers' paths* [draias, dralhas] that used to join up on the Aubrac, it spread all along the Bolène way, known as the Via Agrippa), which linked Lyon to Bordeaux. In the 7C and throughout the Middle Ages, the clearing of trees continued.
The creation of the Domerie d'Aubrac, in the 12C and its religious, political and economic influence, would speed up the process of transforming these moors into rich grazing land.
In 1298, no less than 3,000 sheep from the Domerie alone were entrusted to the care of four mountain shepherds [pastres de montanha]. The monks also let out their pastures (the 'montagnes' or mountains) to distant lords and developed the cultivation of rye around the plateau. This influence would extend far beyond the limits of the Aubrac plateau and the Rouergue, when the Domerie was at its peak.

* Draille du Quercy and grande draille du Languedoc.
A draille (in Occitan) is an old drovers' road used by men and livestock when transhumance takes place.

A middle vast stretches of solitude

This huge building is the 'Royal Aubrac', the oldest high-altitude sanatorium in France, built in 1902. Its role in the birth of tourism in Aubrac is related to the practice of getting better by getting fresh air.

In the land of Transhumance

[al país de las vacadas]

From the 15C onwards, the transhumance of cattle spread and reached a point when it totally replaced the seasonal movement of sheep around 1750.
It was responsible for shaping the landscape and the rural society we see today.
At the end of spring, the herds, which have spent the winter on the more hospitable land of the surrounding valleys and causse limestone plateaux, move up in droves to the highland (some 30,000 cows) to graze on its exceptional pastures*.
These cows are mainly of Aubrac breed**, recognisable by their tan-coloured coat, their lyre-shaped horns and their 'mascaraed' eyes.

* The summer pasture period during which the herds stay on the Aubrac pastures usually lasts from 25 May to 13 October.
** A mixed breed (for beef and milk), which managed to supply milk for cheese and suckle a calf at the same time, Aubrac cattle are sought after today for the exceptional quality of their beef.

Burons or shepherd's huts

[les masucs]

As from the 19C, the production of cheese (fourme)
(today the famous Laguiole AOP cheese), flourished on the summer pastures. And for that purpose, nearly 1,200 seasonal workers would be present on the 'mountains'.
Shepherd's huts [masucs in Occitan!] were built to carry out this task and to shelter an entire workforce of montanhièrs. Under the supervision of a cantalés (master cheese maker), the team of montanhièrs used to include a pastre (master shepherd), a vedelièr (in charge of the calves) and a rol (a lad who was the general dogsbody). For the feast of Saint Jean (24 June), they would plant a tree and prepare a cuècha which has since become an aligòt. Cheese making in the summer pastures no longer takes place today, but the activity is still carried on through the cooperative Jeune Montagne, and a Laguiole cheese that has managed to keep intact the taste for the tradition.

The Aubrac breed of cattle

Source UPRA Aubrac (Association for selection of the Aubrac breed)
A tan-coloured coat, lyre-shaped horns and eyes that look as if they have been made up with kohl. At the very first glance, an Aubrac cow attracts attention and highlights its difference. But its beauty is not everything. A hardy suckler breed, Aubrac cows have a wide range of indisputable qualities. Easy to rear, an Aubrac doesn't require much labour and human input. It therefore makes the farmers' working conditions easier. It is an ideal breed for the production of meat, not only as a pure breed but also when crossed with bulls from other breeds reared specially for meat. So, it ensures profitability for cattle breeders because it is so self-sufficient.

Hardiness

Born on the Aubrac plateaux, the breed is perfectly suited to the extreme weather conditions: differences in temperature, wind and cold. Its robustness and resistance are famed. Its moderate build and firm stand make it an excellent walker fit for moving around. The tough environment of its birthplace has moulded the breed and taught it to be abstemious and not too demanding in terms of food. It is capable of eating huge quantities of rough forage even of poor quality and to make do with that while drawing on its reserves that it will build again in better days when the grass is lush. This is its great 'accordion ability' linked to its hardiness.

Excellent fertility and reproduction capacity

An Aubrac cow produces one calf per year (average interval between births: 375 days), with little help and at low cost (fodder, surveillance and care) and does so irrespective of the environment (70% of cows in the selection base have an average interval between births of less than 385 days). Calving is easy and, in most cases, does not require any help from the farmer. Calves are hardy and lively from the moment they are born (97% easy births).

Outstanding longevity

Aubrac cattle leave the selection plan usually aged 11 after giving birth to 9 calves on average (5% of producer cows are over 12 years old).

The Domerie d'Aubrac

Notre Dame des Pauvres church [Nòstra-Dòna-dels-Paures] is probably one of the most vivid reminders of the everyday life of pilgrims on route to Santiago de Compostela in the Middle Ages.
In this solitary place, often made dangerous by brigands, a pilgrim, chilled to the bone, could find food and lodging in the hospice.
Documents says that, between the 12C and 14C, the Domerie became an important monastery, wealthy because of the income derived from its farmland, and it had some fifteen clergymen, 120 brothers and thirty or so nursing sisters as well as a few knights to protect the place.

* From the title of the main prior of this community: the Dom (from the Latin dominus: seigneur – lord or master).

Story of its foundation

Adalard, a Flemish viscount on his way to Compostela,
braved the crossing of the Aubrac plateau and nearly perished on two occasions: after being attacked by brigands and in a storm.
Seeing his survival as a sign from God, he vowed to help travellers. Around 1120, he created the military and hospitaller order of Aubrac according to the rule of Saint Augustine. Around 1135, Adalard donated this establishment which was dependent on Conques abbey. The hospice buildings, which had become insufficient, were rebuilt by Dordé from the end of the 12C. Donations of land by the great religious orders and the main lords would further the unprecedented growth of the Domerie d'Aubrac up until the end of the Middle Ages and the increased scarcity of pilgrims**.

** The development of the Protestant religion in Northern Europe, an area where many pilgrims came from, was the main reason for the decline of the pilgrimage. Following a revival in the early 16C, the pilgrimage got a bad reputation and the blame was put on the 'disreputable vagrants' who cluttered up the routes. As from 1650 and during the 18C, there would be a succession of royal decrees to regulate the practise of pilgrimages.
The authorities did not like vagrants. In addition, the way of believing changed, giving up practices considered to be superstitious for more introspective piety.

The hospital

Built in the 15C, the building opposite you is the 'new' hospital (in the sense hospice where poor passers-by were given shelter).
It enabled some thirty nursing sisters – probably the first of their kind – to tend to sick pilgrims and local people.
Its facade is flanked by a staircase tower leading to the various floors on which were arranged the kitchen, the men's dormitory, the ladies' chamber and the chapel dedicated to the Holy Spirit.
The hospital does not depart from local architectural rules as it uses basalt stone that is found in every shape and form throughout the building.* The whole range of basaltic rock features on the walls of Aubrac: rough blocks for the low walls, compact grey basalt roughly measured out, vacuolar basalt for the cut stones, light tuff for the construction of the vaults, ochre or dark grey hues.
Note the roofs covered with slates cut like fish scales, which are so typical of Rouergue architecture.

* Renovation of the last floor of the steeple (circa 1880) is an exception because granite has been used

A tourist trade based on parisians

There are two aspects that gave rise to Aubrac's big hotels: health cures and natives of Aveyron coming back there on holiday from Paris.
In the 19C, Aveyron had population problems. Working the land and seasonal migration were no longer enough to support families.
People from the north of Aveyron emigrated in large numbers, especially to Paris. They worked first as water carriers, then delivered coal, and next ran small 'café-charbon' bars which sold coffee, wine and coal, before finally owning a café-brasserie or a tobacconist's.
These 'bougnats' as they were called often met with financial and social success. 'Going back home' brought a lot of money to the local economy and especially to tourism. In Aubrac itself, six big hotels were built just before 1900 in hand with the expansion of the sanatorium, to cater for the first tourists who would come for health cures. Among the hundreds of holidaymakers, the leading café owners in Paris came here to enjoy the invigorating air of the Aubrac.

A tourist trade based on cures

In 1895, a thesis by Doctor Saunal entitled Asepsie pulmonaire et aérothérapie (Asepsis in Pulmonary Care and the Curative use of Air) made high-altitude stays fashionable for treating lung and respiratory diseases.
Aubrac hotels took advantage of this new fashion.
In 1902, the first French high-altitude sanatorium was built on upland overlooking Aubrac. It was a model of comfort and modernity, very much ahead of its day. Ten years later, it became the Hôtel Royal*, a branch of the Hotel Astoria and the International in Vichy. Whey cures were soon added to the curative treatments using air. Whey is a residue that comes from making cheese, produced abundantly in the surrounding burons or high-altitude shepherds' huts used in summer, and which has an indisputable laxative effect. Could this be good for health and dieting? The effects seen were uncertain. Nevertheless tourists in the first half of the 20C flocked to the burons to drink the whey there.
They used to be called somewhat ironically the 'gaspejaires' (gaspa meaning whey in Occitan).

* Today called Royal Aubrac.

Aubrac in the belle époque - period

1. Aubrac, 1906
2. Snow plough
3. Hôtel parisien Auguy, Aubrac
4. Bigophone concert, Aubrac
5. The start of skiing
6. Place de la Fontaine, Aubrac
7. The very first chair lift!

Aubrac in the belle époque - period

1. Gentiana pickers, Laguiole
2. Buron in Regimbal-Bas
3. Milking, Aubrac
4. Aligot, Laguiole
5. Aubrac, circa 1910
6. Aubrac peasant woman, circa 1910
7. Milking in the summer pasture

On the route of Santiago de Compostela in Aveyron

[pel camin romiu roergàs]

From Aubrac to Conques, the local authorities of the area that the Puy en Velay route to Santiago de Compostela (GR®65) runs through have carried out a series of developments to help you discover this pedestrian and cultural route in the best possible conditions, whether you are a pilgrim [romiu], a hiker [caminaire], an occasional walker [rebalaire] or an inhabitant of these villages.
The aim is to help visitors to discover the heritage in every form, from large monument to natural area, not forgetting the rural society that has forged this landscape since the Middle Ages, in the days of the very first pilgrims. The evidence is sometimes tenuous: a name on a map, a section of wall for example...

A means of interpretation in the form of fixed information boards line your journey all the way along the 80 km section of the route. Mainly focused on the villages, it will provide you with the tools to understand the area you are travelling through. It is supplemented by a multimedia application (to download free of charge to smartphones and tablets – see QR code below) that guides the user, lists practical information (accommodation, food, services, visits, etc.), and gives extra information on the elements to discover (videos, photos, interviews, etc.). The main content of this multimedia tool is translated into English. Facilities have also been designed for the safety and well-being of users: picnic areas, waterless toilets, footpaths alongside roads, signposts, path maintenance, etc. That's the least we can do to help you along your way as you discover the Route of Santiago de Compostela in Aveyron!

On the World Heritage List Géolocalisation

Since Nasbinals, you have been walking on one of the seven sections of the Puy en Velay route inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List that is known as the Via Podiensis; these 160 km of the more than 730 km are a fine example of the route that medieval pilgrims might have gone through.
Bridges, religious buildings or former hospitals*, such as the Domerie d'Aubrac, lined the paths followed by pilgrims who wanted to pray to Our Lady, Saint James, Sainte Foy, Saint Leonard, Saint Saturnin and so on.
This selection of buildings and routes bears witness to the essential role that the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and the routes followed held in religious and cultural exchanges, in Europe, during the Middle Ages.

Aveyron has preserved many signs of the passing through of pilgrims. Consequently, UNESCO inscribed the following on the World Heritage List in order to safeguard them for present and future generations:
- Nasbinals (Lozère) / Aubrac / Saint Chély d'Aubrac: 17 km from the Aubrac plateau to its foothills;
- Saint Côme d'Olt / Espalion / Estaing: 17 km along the Lot Valley;
- the bridges of Saint Chély d'Aubrac, Espalion, Estaing and Conques;
- Sainte Foy Abbey Church at Conques.

*Hospices where poor passers-by were taken in.

Town hall square

The square we see today only dates back to the early 20C, when the village got a facelift. It was formerly occupied by a block of old houses, surrounded by two streets, which would be knocked down in the early months of 1920.
In 1930-31, a final building was demolished, giving the square its current layout.
You can see the 1914-18 war memorial and also the beautiful old hospice building (1927). An 18C wrought iron cross makes its mark.

Know more about place de la mairie

LA PACHA ES FACHA !

(THE DEAL IS DONE)

From the 16C to the mid-20C, cattle fairs were central to village activity. A 'patche' or slap of the hand was the traditional gesture of livestock dealers. It meant that the deal was struck irrevocably, with no written agreement. On the left of the scene shown below, two livestock dealers are slapping each other's hand. On the right there's a cow attached to a rope held by a man. Using a tool, another livestock dealer marks the animal's hindquarters to recognize it.

Pont des pèlerins - Pilgrims bridge

[lo Pònt romiu]

'Throughout the Middle Ages, Santiago de Compostela was the supreme goal for countless thousands of pious pilgrims who converged there from all over Europe. To reach Spain pilgrims had to pass through France and the group of important historical monuments included in this inscription on the World Heritage List marks out the routes by which they did so. »
UNESCO letter of notification sent to the French government on 29 December 1998.

This bridge (known as bridge over the Boralde, or bridge de l'Yeule) is inscribed on the World Heritage List as a property. It is the only point where pilgrims can cross the Boralde without getting their feet wet and has survived in remarkably good condition since the 14C. This bridge is an example of the many structures built to organise a route and to make getting about easier for travellers such as pilgrims or inhabitants in their daily life.
The bridge is a strong symbol in the Catholic faith: a symbol of passing from earth to heaven, hence the frequent presence of a cross on these structures.

Know more about the pilgrims bridge

Architecture

15 m long and 4.6 m wide, it has a gradient of about 8%. The 0.5 m parapets give way to a 3.60 m bridge floor whose paved road, made of boralde river pebbles, was redone to replace the tarmac and give the bridge its original appearance back.
The two arches are separated by a strong, 2 m-thick pillar, protected upstream by a triangular cutwater.
The masonry work is an alternation of vacuolar basalt (lava stone) for the main elements (cornerstones of the piers, arches, top of the parapet, ornaments, etc.) and gneiss used to fill in the walls.

See upstream plan and elevation of the bridge

ROADSIDE CROSS Géolocalisation

The basalt cross adorned with figures and foliage, which rests on the cutwater of the bridge's central pillar, dates from the 15C-16C. It is quite crude and shows Christ on the cross in its upper part. At his feet: the Virgin Mary (right) and John the Apostle (left). At the bottom of the shaft is a pilgrim, carved in the round. He is wearing the typical long hooded cloak of pilgrims. Portrayed standing and face on, he occupies a rectangular space. In his right hand, he is holding his walking staff and in the left, he is saying the rosary which is placed in front of him.

The wash house

Before the advent of the washing machine, women used to come and wash their clothes here [far la bugada]. The upstream basin was for rinsing.
This chore was probably made easier by the chatting and gossip that ran rife and the place had a really social function.
It was in this area that traces of human occupation in Neolithic times were discovered. The proximity of the spring, which feeds the wash house, backs up the theory of an old settlement..

Know more about the wash house

The mil of Fabbras

[lo molin de Fabràs]

The old flour mill brought about a revolution at the beginning of the 20C with the installation of a small power plant. The village was then able to enjoy the comfort of electricity very early on (many villages in Aveyron only had access to it from the Thirties and sometimes much later for the remote hamlets and farms).

Private property, no entry to the public.
The building can be seen a few metres further.

See forgotten mils from Saint-Chély-d'Aubrac

Know more about Fabbras's Mil

Viewpoint

The urban structure of the village is clearly distinguishable, with an extension created from the banks of the Boralde (medieval part) towards the current centre (Place de la Mairie), and then Avenue d'Aubrac (early 20C) and the recent extensions.

The village of Saint-Chély d'Aubrac

[lo vilatge de Sant-Chèli]

The first written mention of the village dates back to 1082*, but signs of a settlement going back 3,400 years before our time (sharpened flints and planted stakes) have been found. The medieval village, probably surrounded by walls, was spread out over the lower part, from the Boralde to Rue du Château [carrièira del Castèl]. The establishment of a priory was instrumental in the village's rapid development. The regular trading links established with the prosperous Domerie d'Aubrac would strengthen its importance. Before 1552, Saint Chély d'Aubrac had two livestock fairs** to which merchants travelled from the whole of Languedoc and Spain.

Know more about the market

There was also a very active craft industry with many weavers who treated the wool coming from the plateau, tanners
Did you know that two of the seven sections of the Route to Santiago de Compostela in France inscribed on the World Heritage List are in Aveyron? There are also four bridges inscribed and Sainte Foy abbey-church in Conques. This represents a remarkable heritage which stretches out over 80 km, from the Aubrac plateau to the Lot Valley. A flow of pedestrian travellers has carved out its path in this landscape.
The Routes to Santiago de Compostela are both unique and universal: they have been fashioned for over 1,000 years in step with feelings, chance encounters and a sense of sharing.

(hence the nickname Pelatièrs [related to the French word for hide] given to the inhabitants of Sant-Chèli and the presence of calquièiras or tanning drums in the cellars of certain houses), and blacksmiths among other activities that were able to set up here thanks to the presence of the River Boralde; these craftsmen gave the place its identity.
At the beginning of the 20C, Saint-Chély-d'Aubrac was a prosperous little town. Evidence of this can be seen in the large buildings on Avenue d'Aubrac, but also in the many shops of which we see signs in the village today (painted shop signs on walls, stalls converted into garages or houses). The following years would be more difficult:
rural exodus, the disappearance of small skilled trades, the draw of the town have meant that today the village only has 250 inhabitants.

* The Bishop of Rodez donated the church of Saint-Chély-d'Aubrac to the Abbey of Saint Victor in Marseille. Along with Saint Urcize and Nasbinals, it was one of the first priories on the Route to Santiago de Compostela in Aubrac.
** The present cattle market [fièiral] is on this square. At the end of October, this is where the Aubrac cattle breed competition takes place.

What’s in a name?

There are two opposing concepts regarding the origin of the name. For some people, Saint Chély d'Aubrac apparently comes from a distortion of Saint Hilaire, for others it comes from sanch Eli (Saint Eloi in Occitan), who is also the patron saint of the parish. As for the inhabitants of Saint Chély d'Aubrac, they have only had a name since 2009: they are called the Saint Chélois.
In Occitan, besides the nickname Pelatièr, they have always said un or una Sant-Chèli. Simple... and beautiful.

Tourism and handicap

Two touch tables for the visually impaired can be found Place de la Mairie (figure 1 on the map) and beside the Pont des Pèlerins (Pilgrims' Bridge) (figure 9 on the map). Because the streets are steep, points 5, 7 and 9 are not easily accessible to people with reduced mobility. Vehicles can stop close to the Pont des Pèlerins (Pilgrims' Bridge/pont romiu).

The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

In the pious Middle Ages, making a pilgrimage to a holy place, and the relics of the martyrs this place housed, was an essential deed in the life of a believer.

The relic of a saint perpetuates his presence and his favourable influence. It provides protection, cure, succour and so on.
Saint Peter, Saint Paul, the first Christian martyrs in Rome, the sites of Christ's life and passion in Jerusalem, attracted pilgrims from all over the Christian West. Around 830, the relics of the apostle James, beheaded by Herod in Palestine in 44 A.D. were miraculously discovered in Compostela (Galicia, Spain). The difficulties encountered by Christians to make their way to the Holy Land, together with the symbol that James the Apostle represented in the Reconquista*, drew the West's attention to this tomb that became one of the major pilgrimages right from the end of the first millennium. Thousands of pilgrims, kings, bishops and ordinary men carried out the journey to Galicia to meditate at the tomb of one of Christ's closest companions.
Four symbolic routes epitomized the countless routes that pilgrims converging on the Pyrenees used to follow. As they wended their way, they visited the many sanctuaries and called upon a litany of saints. They fulfilled their devotions and found charitable assistance.
Their routes played an essential part in trade and religious and cultural development during the Middle Ages.
The many buildings and places of worship that lined these routes are still evidence of that today.

* Reconquest of Muslim kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula by Catholic rulers between 718 and 1492.

The Route in Aveyron

In 1998, the 'Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France' were inscribed on the World Heritage List because of their exceptional universal value.
This inscription took the form of a selection of 71 buildings and 7 stretches of the way which bore witness to the routes and places frequented by pilgrims wanting to go to Santiago de Compostela. In Aveyron, several edifices are recognised as World Heritage because they are outstanding landmarks on the route followed by pilgrims: the bridges over the Boralde in Saint Chély d’Aubrac, over the Lot in Espalion and Estaing and over the Dourdou in Conques; Sainte Foy Abbey-church in Conques, a place of pilgrimage in its own right dedicated to young Sainte Foy. Pilgrims on the Way of St James, referred to as jacquets, were advised to visit it as early as the Middle Ages;

- Nasbinals (Lozère) / Aubrac / Saint-Chély-d’Aubrac : 17 km from the Aubrac plateau to its foothills; Saint Côme d’Old / Espalion / Estaing: 17 km along the Lot Valley.

Facilities for you

Between Aubrac and Conques, the local authorities of the area that the Puy en Velay route to Santiago de Compostela (GR®65) runs through have carried out a series of developments to help you discover this pedestrian and cultural route that is laden with meaning and history. Information boards line the 80 km section of the route. They will provide you with the tools to discover the heritage that is visible from the route (Romanesque monuments, landscape, geology, rural life, etc.)
A multimedia application (to download free of charge to smartphones and tablets - see below) helps to guide you and give you information about services (accommodation, food, visits, etc.).
You will find extra information on the elements to discover.
Facilities have also been designed for the safety and well-being of users: picnic areas, waterless toilets, footpaths alongside roads, signposts, path maintenance, etc

The GR® and how to use it

The greatest care is taken to maintain the route and to welcome you in our villages so that the walk is a pleasant one for you. Nevertheless, you are responsible along the way.
Please take your rubbish away with you. There are lots of litter bins and toilets along the route.
The best way to observe nature is to respect it (no loud noises or shouting, avoid walking in big groups, etc.). Do not pick flowers, do not disturb the wildlife and herds of livestock. Respect fencing and private property.
Even on foot, please abide by the Highway Code. Warning: in foggy weather, some routes may be dangerous. Start when the fog has lifted or walk along the side of the roadway.
The route is a way to open up to nature, the life of the inhabitants and the traditions and history of the towns and villages you go through:
the people of Aveyron invite you to share their convivial way of life, be curious and feel free to talk to the people you meet!

Information : Tourist Office: 05.65.44.21.15 or 05.65.44.35.94 / www.aubrac-laguiole.com
Comité Départemental du Tourisme de l’Aveyron (Aveyron Tourist Board) : www.tourisme-aveyron.com

Did you know that two of the seven sections of the Route to Santiago de Compostela in France inscribed on the World Heritage List are in Aveyron? There are also four bridges inscribed and Sainte Foy abbey-church in Conques. This represents a remarkable heritage which stretches out over 80 km, from the Aubrac plateau to the Lot Valley. A flow of pedestrian travellers has carved out its path in this landscape.
The Routes to Santiago de Compostela are both unique and universal: they have been fashioned for over 1,000 years in step with feelings, chance encounters and a sense of sharing.

UNESCO World Heritage

The year was 1945. The world was awakening from a nightmare that had gone beyond the bounds of horror. On 16 November, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was set up by the League of Nations.
Its aim: to build peace in the minds of men through education, science, culture and communication in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom for everyone, regardless of race, gender, language or religion. The 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage served UNESCO's ideal of peace and dialogue. Inscription on the World Heritage List consists in identifying, protecting and preserving, throughout the world, the cultural and natural heritage deemed to have exceptional universal value.
World Heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the world. There are currently nearly 1,000 'Properties' in 160 countries inscribed on the World Heritage List. France has 38 inscribed Properties.

Street Tralfour

This street gets its name from the old communal oven [tras lo forn: meaning behind the oven in Occitan].
It was the main shopping street [carrièira] in Saint Chély d'Aubrac and had a cobbler [sudre, pegòt], a grocer's (the village
had five of these!), a milliner [capelièr], a haberdasher, a butcher's – that used to use the old communal oven as a slaughterhouse [masèl] - and later a baker's and an electrician.
It has an unusual feature: the inscription «Fais ce que tu voudras avoir fait quand tu mourras » (Do what you would like to have done when you die) (1629), engraved in the front wall of the house where the former grocer's used to be.
It is most probably linked to the plague epidemics that the region experienced at that time.

Know more about Tralfour street

The church

In 1385, the old church (mentioned back in 1082) was set fire to by rovers who pillaged the village (Hundred Years' War).
It was rebuilt at the beginning of the 15C on the initiative of the Dom d'Aubrac. Its steeple bears the signs of the watchtower (arrow slits) on which it was erected. The pointed barrel vault – modelled on the Domerie d'Aubrac – is reinforced by large transverse arches, made of volcanic tuff, which mark out the bays.

The furniture is quite exceptional for such a plain building. The 18C main altar was restored around 1860 by the painter Castanié, who also did the copy of Rubens' 'Descent from the Cross' and the half-relief showing the Eternal Father and the tabernacle.
The side niches are decorated with gilded statues of Saint Roch and Saint Éloi (patron saint of the parish). The second chapel, on the right, has two paintings showing presentations

of the Rosary by Lemaire (17C), but the showpiece has to be two fragments of limestone bas-relief (first half of the 14C), portraying Christ and seven of his apostles, including James the Great, carrying the staff of pilgrims on their way to Galicia and the big hat with the shell on it.
This very fine piece was exhibited at the Louvre in 2009, as part of the exhibition called 'Early altarpieces - A presentation of sacred art'

Church's documentation

Know more about the church

The tower

This tower was built around 1475 by Pierre de Cusinis, a judge in Aubrac. It gave added protection to the village that had been hard hit by recent forays by pillagers. Up until the Revolution, it used to house the religious congregation of the Frères de Cusinis. It became state property and on 28 April 1791 was sold to the surgeon in Saint Chély d'Aubrac.
Opposite the rear of the tower, an 18C building is home to the Tourist Office.
There are some lovely vaulted rooms and a former dungeon to be seen there.

Know more about Saint-Chély d'Aubrac's tower

The new Saint-Chély d'Aubrac

The large buildings on Avenue d'Aubrac date back to the beginning of the 20C.
They mainly owe their existence to people who were born in Aveyron coming back there from Paris.
Seasonal emigration existed since the early 19C, and even before that, but it was from the end of the 19C that people of Aveyron left a land that could no longer provide for their needs in droves.
The Parisian 'network' got organised for people from North Aveyron.
Carrying out the toughest jobs (they were the ones to deliver coal, but also worked as water carriers, scrap merchants, coach drivers, etc.), they managed, by dint of solidarity, hard work and savings, to set up small 'cafés-charbons', then cafés-brasseries* that would often be among the most famous in Paris**.
They also helped to safeguard traditions such as playing the cabrette [cabreta], dancing the bourrée [borrèia] and playing quilles [quilhas].
When returning to their village on holiday, or for well-deserved retirement, they built large houses and contributed to the economic life of this whole region.

* Along the lines of the many small cafés in their villages.
** Brasserie Lipp, Café de Flore, Les Deux magots, Le Dôme, Café Costes, among others...

People from Aveyron in Paris

Le Point magazine Anne-Sophie Jarrige

They come from Laguiole, Entraygues, Espalion, Saint Geniez d'Olt or Millau. Like Jean Valjean [one of the main characters in Hugo's Les Misérables], they arrived in Paris penniless and with a vague dream of turning their green mountain into a mountain of gold. How are they recognized? By a slight Southern French accent which, suddenly, lights up their dark clothing like a stormy sky. These are the Aveyron people of Paris. Bar, café and restaurant owners, but also doctors, teachers, cardinals or ambassadors, they all belong to that once mocked migrant population, confined to the ghetto of the Bastille district, which managed to fit in at every level of Parisian society.
Just how many of them are there? Nobody really knows. The most frequently advanced figure is 320,000. There are apparently between 5,000 and 6,000 Parisian cafés, hotels and restaurants in their hands, along with 70% of the tobacconists'. One thing is for sure: there are more natives of Aveyron in Paris today than their compatriots still living in the actual département which only has 260,000 souls.

Their story began a hundred and fifty years ago. At that time, Aveyron, a county undergoing massive change, experienced unprecedented economic losses. In rural areas, the farm was no longer enough to feed the family. Siblings had to leave. The first went with their livestock to the slaughterhouses of La Villette. The ones who followed were quickly taken on as water carriers, dairymen, coach drivers or scrap merchants.
This flow of migrants has run dry today. 'Young people nowadays come to Paris to study and not to make a fortune, says Muriel Harel, a journalist on L'Aveyronnais de Paris. They've seen their parents or grandparents slave away and they don't want to do the same.' Especially since there are now more jobs back home (the unemployment rate in Aveyron is one of the lowest in France – 5.4% compared with the national average of 12.7%). And then, 'when most people are on a 35-hour working week, jobs in the catering trade have less appeal', recognizes Maryvonne Leparmentier, head of the Cité des Fleurs hostel for young workers (50% occupied by people from Aveyron), in Paris's 17th arrondissement, which is now home to more computer analysts and office workers than waiters.
However, bars, hotels and restaurants are still the showcase of Aveyron in Paris. Les Deux Magots, Les Trois Marches, Le Wepler, L'Escurial, Brasserie Lipp, Café de Flore, Café Marly, and Le Dôme are still symbols of success. Admittedly, it's often the third or even fourth generation which is today at the head of these empires. But the stock career of the perfect bar owner has not changed: you always start as a waiter, you then go on to become a salaried manager and then a manager before buying your own business, which you sell for a bigger, better located one.
The Costes brothers, who now own some thirty establishments in the capital, began like this: Gilbert, current presiding judge at the Paris Commercial Court, used to serve aligot at L'Ambassade d'Auvergne when he was 20, whilst his younger brother, Jean-Louis, used to draw beer at La Strasbourgeoise. A spell in well-known restaurants (Plaza-Athénée, Ledoyen, etc.), some rudimentary accounting skills and they ran their first business: Le Ronsard, at the bottom of Montmartre, for Jean-Louis, and a tobacconist's at place d'Orléans for Gilbert. The money-making machine, however, didn't really get off the ground until the first Café Costes, designed by Philippe Starck, was created in 1979 in Les Halles district.

Sicilian solidarity

What's their strategy? It can be summed up in a few words: stubbornness, mutual aid and discretion: three virtues typical of Aveyron. To put it plainly, a passion for the job and for quality, unremitting effort from dawn to dusk, and of course the location. 'It's of utmost importance', insists Bernard Lhéritier, a native of Entraygues, who preferred to leave the business he had at Place Voltaire - 'a lacklustre neighbourhood' in his opinion - to come and set up alongside Chez Angelina, opposite the Jardin des Tuileries, at the Rivoli Park Tavern.
Because the new bougnats as they were called no longer run bistros, they liven places up and create atmospheres. What's their recipe? Nobody will tell you straight up. 'We see to it that people feel good', says Andrée Bouert at the Auberge Aveyronnaise, by offering authentic products in a warm and welcoming setting.
Such is Jean Richard's credo too. Close-cropped hair, impeccably pressed black suit and a grating accent, the youngest of the famous wine merchants today runs nine restaurants and a hotel in the 7th and 8th arrondissements of Paris, including Chez Francis, Marius et Janette, Avenue George V and the Berkeley on avenue Matignon. 'I couldn't care less about fashion, he explains seriously. I only care about the quality of my products.' »
The active support of suppliers (the well-known RTL – Richard, Tafanel, Ladoux -, but also Bertrand, all of Aveyron or Cantal origin) has also played a part in these success stories. 'The reps do their rounds in the various establishments. They know everything that goes on, recognizes Bernard Lhéritier. They help us to get on.' If the boss is trustworthy, the distributor won't think twice about helping him financially, standing surety or even, when he's setting up, providing him with draught beer dispensers or coffee machines free of charge – gifts that can amount to 6,000 euros. If, as anticipated, the new owner is up to the task, everyone will be a winner: the new boss and the broker, who will have got himself someone who is obliged to carry on getting supplies from him.
'We are very close to our customers, says Anne Richard, Pierre's daughter, who looks after the marketing for the café sector today. Our deliverymen often act as confidants or advisors to our customers, when they're not stepping down into the cellar to sort out the way the wines are put away!' With the monopoly on wine distribution in the capital, it's in Maison Richard's interest to keep alive this solidarity that some people will describe as Sicilian but without the guns! This family empire stretches from Draguignan in the southern French Var to London. That accounts for turnover of 61 million euros, 1,800 wine and spirit references, 14,000 customers and 11 subsidiaries outside Paris. But also 600 hectares of vineyard and 12 domaines divided up between the Bordeaux region, the Beaujolais and the Rhone Valley, with Château La Nerthe (Châteauneuf du Pape) and Château Le Bourdieu (Haut Médoc) being their finest flagships.

Berthillon and Maury

But the success stories don't just stop at cafés and bars. Berthillon, the famous ice-cream maker on rue Saint Louis en l'Ile in Paris, discovered by Gault et Millau in 1964 and who today turns over 3 million euros, without any marketing, is from Aveyron.
The Aveyron label has also done wonders in the fashion industry: Bernard Perris, for example, was assistant to Guy Laroche and Jean-Louis Scherrer's couturier. Tartine et Chocolat and Un dimanche dans nos campagnes also have their roots in Aveyron. The same goes for clothing range Bonpoint. The famous smocked dresses and apple green striped t-shirts have been designed since 1973 by a native of Aveyron, Marie-France Cohen, the sister of Annick Goutal who has made a name for herself in perfume. With its wealth of cousins, sons-in-law, nephews, parents and other relatives, the family, originally from Laguiole, today controls some thirty shops in Paris. As has always been the tradition in Aveyron, families work together. Bernard Cohen takes care of the money and admin side, Dominique Swidens, Marie-France's sister, is a designer like her; Juliette Swidens, Dominique's daughter, looks after 1 et 1 font 3, a clothing range for pregnant mums. As for the Cohen children, they have recently opened a boutique for accessories, Bon Ton on rue de Grenelle.
Another sector is printing. Originally from Millau, Jean-Paul Maury is at the head of one of the biggest printing houses in France. With 30% of the rotary offset market in France, it employs 1,550 people and has turnover of 20 million euros. It prints 175 weeklies or monthlies including Le Point, L'Express, Paris Match, France Football and Santé Magazine, some of the Reader's Digest publications for England and Belgium, bibles for the whole world and the Michelin guides.
Symptomatic of this professional diversification is the Association Auvergne Business Club (AABC), set up some ten years ago. Who are the members? Executives, company directors, academics, lawyers, directors of L'Oréal, Crédit Agricole or BNP Paribas to name but a few. In total, a hundred members, all rock solid and who have not disowned their origins once arrived in the capital. They get together around a good meal, call each other up, give each other a helping hand and apply a preference for all things Aveyronnais. Maybe to atone for having left their region?

On the route of Santiago de Compostela in Aveyron

[pel camin romiu roergàs]

The 17 kilometres from Nasbinals to Saint Chély d'Aubrac are inscribed on the World Heritage List under the 'Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France'. This property consists of a selection of 71 buildings that are illustrative of the pilgrimage and prayer. It also includes seven sections of the Via Podiensis starting from Le Puy en Velay, in other words 160 km of the 730 km of the journey.
These 'sections of path' are exceptional because they have kept some of their original appearance. Alongside the bridges, religious buildings and hospices, they bear witness to the essential role that the Routes to Santiago de Compostela played in trade and religious and cultural development during the Middle Ages.
In Aveyron, two sections are concerned:
- Nasbinals (Lozère) / Aubrac / Saint Chély d'Aubrac: 17 km from the Aubrac plateau to its foothills.
- Saint Côme d'Olt / Espalion / Estaing: 17 km along the Lot Valley. The village of Saint Chély d'Aubrac also has a monument included in the Property: the Pont des Pèlerins (Pilgrims' Bridge), over the Boralde.

Unesco World Heritage Géolocalisation

In 1945, the world was awakening from the nightmare of war.
On 16 November, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was set up by the League
of Nations. Its aim: to build peace in the minds of men through education, science, culture and communication in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law and human rights along with fundamental freedom for everyone, regardless of race, gender, language or religion.
The notion of world heritage is more recent (the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage). It consists in identifying, protecting and preserving, throughout the world, the cultural and natural heritage deemed to have exceptional universal value.

There are currently nearly 1,000 'Properties' in 160 countries inscribed on the World Heritage List, 38 of which are in France.

Nasbinals / Aubrac / Saint-Chély-d’Aubrac Géolocalisation

This section is probably the most captivating in terms of scenery and diversity. It partly follows the routes established prior to the passing through of pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela: Via Agrippa (the Roman road linking Lyon to Bordeaux) and the main drailles [draias] or drovers' roads that were used to take flocks of sheep up to the summer pastures on the Aubrac. In the Middle Ages, these routes changed to rejoin places designed to welcome pilgrims, such as the Domerie d'Aubrac or places of worship.
The current agricultural and social balance globally corresponds to the principles laid down in medieval times, with highly structured trading between the mountain and the surrounding valleys. Regarding the buildings and the landscape, few changes have taken place. Local stone (basalt, granite, gneiss and mica schist) is used for the construction of buildings and low surrounding walls [paredors], summer pastures [pradas, montanhas] alternate with moors covered with heather or broom and forests, and arable land is rare.
The most notable changes concern the replacement of sheep with cattle in the 18C and more forests taking hold on certain slopes.

Maison Pons de Caylus House

[l’ostal de Cailùs]

This house used to be an outbuilding of the château and was the lord's watchtower and pigeon loft.
When it was sold to the Pons de Caylus family, the tower had its top removed because it couldn't be higher than the château.
Fortified Romanesque gate on the drawbridge du Midi.

Maison Dufau House

[l’ostal de Delfau]

This old house, which once had a corbel jutting out over rue du Terral, is topped by a pigeon loft with a pointed, four-sided roof.
It gets its name from a family of notaries who used to live there and who were later lords of Beauregard, near Estaing. Rue du Terral was the shopping street for travellers coming from the South of France (the Midi) and from Spain.
Some stone stalls [taoulos] can still be seen.

Church of Saint-Côme and Saint-Damien

[la glèisa Sant-Cosme e Sant-Damian]

A gothic church with a Romanesque part and an unusual spiral-shaped steeple.
Created by Antoine Salvanh, the architect who designed the spire for Rodez Cathedral, but who was also a mason and sculptor (see the listed portal).

Place de l'Ancien Pilori

Now Place de Malimande.
In the Middle Ages (from the 11C to the 15C), in the middle of the square there used to be a pillory, a platform on which a post was erected to which petty criminals were attached, every Thursday, to carry out the punishment that had been given them.

Manoir des sires de Calmont

[l’ostal dels senhors de Calmont]

Château of the barons de Calmont, then the marquis de Saint Côme d'Olt, the Curières de Castelnau.
Renaissance façade, medieval rear part, 14C towers. Arrowslits with an enormous stirrup base.

A round village

The round (or circulade) villages of the Languedoc region are built in concentric circles around the church or fortified castle. Krysztof Pawloswski, a Polish architect who coined the term 'circulade', sees in them an expression of medieval town planning (11C and 12C) prior to the bastides, the 'new towns' of the Middle Ages, built on a rectangular plan (13C and 14C). This circular construction appears to be linked to Christian symbolism and the needs of defence.

The church doors Géolocalisation

Made of carved oak and each studded with 365 hammered wrought iron studs, they date back to 1532 and are listed as a Historic Monument. Each door is decorated with 15 carved panels comprising heads of people, weird animals, veiling and the coat of arms of Jean d'Estaing (J.D., three fleur de lys with a chef d'or). Two panels are shown below: on the left, someone riding an imaginary animal, on the right, two dragons lifting up a goat by the horns.

Rodelle Consul's house

[l’ostal del còssol de Rodesla]

From a family of consuls and notaries, Father Rodelle was an erudite Latin scholar (18C).
The house boasts one of the finest façades probably the work of the architect Salvanh. Front door decorated with an ogee arch. An unusual caryatid.

The twisted steeple

The church was built between 1522 and 1532, in pure flamboyant gothic style, by Antoine Salvanh. It is topped by an unusual 'twisted' or 'spiral' steeple. Is this what the architect wanted or did the roof timbers accidentally cause the twisting? When one is familiar with the reputation of Salvanh, architect of the steeple of Rodez Cathedral ('one of the four wonders of the South of France'), the first theory wins hands down.
The craftsmanship of local workers, trained in making upside down boat keel roofs* - commonly seen in the village architecture – and the soundness of the carpenter's stamps marking certain pieces of wood, also agree with this theory.

*This architecture, specific to the Lot Valley, makes loft space bigger.
Some ten houses can be seen in Saint Côme d’Olt (Rue des Pénitents in particular).

Close-up

There are some hundred twisted steeples in Europe**. Many of them were built to a traditional eight-sided design but that shape was caused to twist by accident because the wooden roof structure warped. An eighth of a degree at the base can result in 45° at its summit! This defect has often been kept in the course of successive renovation work and maintenance, to the extent of forming the character of the steeple.

** 33 in France, 24 in Germany, 8 in Belgium and in Austria, 3 in Switzerland and in England, 2 in Denmark and 1 in Italy.

THE TWISTED OR «SPIRAL» STEEPLE Géolocalisation

The twisted steeple of Saint Côme d'Olt revolves from left to right around its eight sides. Its lauze stone roof houses 7 bells. With its spire rising to a height of 45 metres, the building raises the following question: has its frame twisted with time or is this the deliberate work of its architect Antoine Salvanh? Whatever the answer, the twisted steeple is still the emblem of Saint Côme d'Olt.

The drawing opposite shows the shape of the twisted steeple. A scale model is on display at the permanent exhibition in the Chapelle des Pénitents chapel (admission free).

House end tower du greffe

[la tor del grefe]

Fortified gate protecting the north-east entrance.
Seat of the local law court up until 1789.
In the street leading to the next item (Chapelle des Pénitents), don't miss the three roofs in the style of Philibert de l'Orme, shaped like an upside down ship's bottom.

The maison d'Armagnac House

[l’ostal d’Armanhac]

It is to this house that Monseigneur Frayssinous, bishop of Hermopolis, former Minister for public education under Charles X and private tutor of the Duc de Bordeaux (the future Henri V) retired. His heart lies in Saint Côme d'Olt church.

L'Ouradou

[l’orador]

A former oratory with a lovely eight-sided roof.
In memory of the great plague of 1586 and of pilgrims who stopped here.

The village of Saint-Côme-d'Olt

[lo borg de Sant-Cosme]

Listed as one of the 'Most Beautiful Villages of France', Saint Côme d'Olt experienced prosperous times which can be seen from the facades of its old buildings.
There are several reasons for that: fertile land, the mild climate of the Lot Valley and the meeting point of two ancient roads, the prehistoric draille or drovers' road and the Roman road*, and its role as a link between the causse limestone plateau and the high plateaux of the Aubrac. Aubrac's wealthy landowners and merchants, as well as the local lords and clergy, established winter homes here which today form a remarkable heritage.

See the guide tour of Saint-Côme-d'Olt

Among the beautiful 15C and 16C buildings, some are the work of Antoine Salvanh, the architect who designed the steeple for Rodez Cathedral.

Did you know that two of the seven sections of the Route to Santiago de Compostela in France inscribed on the World Heritage List are in Aveyron? There are also four bridges inscribed and Sainte Foy abbey-church in Conques. This represents a remarkable heritage which stretches out over 80 km, from the Aubrac plateau to the Lot Valley. A flow of pedestrian travellers has carved out its path in this landscape.
The Routes to Santiago de Compostela are both unique and universal: they have been fashioned for over 1,000 years in step with feelings, chance encounters and a sense of sharing.

The village expanded northwards as from the 10C around Saint Pierre de la Bouysse (box tree) church. A hospice was created, under the protection of Saint Côme, patron saint of doctors.
After the château** (12C) was built, the small town extended southwards, towards the banks of the Lot. The barons de Calmont, masters of the site, greatly contributed to the growth of Saint Côme d'Olt, by granting a whole range of privileges to the town (12C charter).
The almost circular contour of the town follows the course of the old moat. This was filled in after the 17C and replaced by a wide boulevard. As they did in the Middle Ages, the three old gates still command the entrance to the historic centre.

* Gallo-Roman hamlets of Lévinhac and Sonilhac.
** The present-day Town Hall, greatly modified during the Renaissance.

Must-sees

A tour circuit helps you to discover the most beautiful historic buildings in Saint Côme d'Olt.
These include religious heritage (Saint Pierre de la Bouysse church), the famous twisted steeple, the church doors which are on the Historical Monuments list and the village streets with their old Occitan names. Enjoy the tour!

Tourism and handicap

Two touch boards for the visually impaired can be found Place de Castelnau (figure 1 on the map). The whole tour circuit is accessible to people with reduced mobility.
Be careful when crossing the road to Aubrac (route de l'Aubrac) (after figure 7 on the map).

Did you know that two of the seven sections of the Route to Santiago de Compostela in France inscribed on the World Heritage List are in Aveyron? There are also four bridges inscribed and Sainte Foy abbey-church in Conques. This represents a remarkable heritage which stretches out over 80 km, from the Aubrac plateau to the Lot Valley. A flow of pedestrian travellers has carved out its path in this landscape.
The Routes to Santiago de Compostela are both unique and universal: they have been fashioned for over 1,000 years in step with feelings, chance encounters and a sense of sharing.

Unesco World Heritage

The year was 1945. The world was awakening from a nightmare that had gone beyond the bounds of horror. On 16 November, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was set up by the League of Nations.
Its aim: to build peace in the minds of men through education, science, culture and communication in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom for everyone, regardless of race, gender, language or religion. The 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage served UNESCO's ideal of peace and dialogue. Inscription on the World Heritage List consists in identifying, protecting and preserving, throughout the world, the cultural and natural heritage deemed to have exceptional universal value.
World Heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the world. There are currently nearly 1,000 'Properties' in 160 countries inscribed on the World Heritage List. France has 38 inscribed Properties.

The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

In the pious Middle Ages, making a pilgrimage to a holy place, and the relics of the martyrs this place housed, was an essential deed in the life of a believer. The relic of a saint perpetuates his presence and his favourable influence. It provides protection, cure, succour and so on. Saint Peter, Saint Paul, the first Christian martyrs in Rome, the sites of Christ's life and passion in Jerusalem, attracted pilgrims from all over the Christian West. Around 830, the relics of the apostle James, beheaded by Herod in Palestine in 44 A.D. were miraculously discovered in Compostela (Galicia, Spain). The difficulties encountered by Christians to make their way to the Holy Land, together with the symbol that James the Apostle represented in the Reconquista*, drew the West's attention to this tomb that became one of the major pilgrimages right from the end of the first millennium. Thousands of pilgrims, kings, bishops and ordinary men carried out the journey to Galicia to meditate at the tomb of one of Christ's closest companions.
Four symbolic routes epitomized the countless routes that pilgrims converging on the Pyrenees used to follow. As they wended their way, they visited the many sanctuaries and called upon a litany of saints. They fulfilled their devotions and found charitable assistance.
Their routes played an essential part in trade and religious and cultural development during the Middle Ages.
The many buildings and places of worship that lined these routes are still evidence of that today.

* Reconquest of Muslim kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula by Catholic rulers between 718 and 1492.

The Route in Aveyron

In 1998, the 'Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France' were inscribed on the World Heritage List because of their exceptional universal value.
This inscription took the form of a selection of 71 buildings and 7 stretches of the way which bore witness to the routes and places frequented by pilgrims wanting to go to Santiago de Compostela. In Aveyron, several edifices are recognised as World Heritage because they are outstanding landmarks on the route followed by pilgrims:
the bridges over the Boralde in Saint Chély d'Aubrac, over the Lot in Espalion and Estaing and over the Dourdou in Conques; Sainte Foy Abbey-church in Conques, a place of pilgrimage in its own right dedicated to young Sainte Foy. Pilgrims on the Way of St James, referred to as jacquets, were advised to visit it as early as the Middle Ages;

Nasbinals (Lozère) / Aubrac / Saint-Chély-d'Aubrac : 17 km from the Aubrac plateau to its foothills; Saint Côme d'Old / Espalion / Estaing: 17 km along the Lot Valley.

Facilities for you

Between Aubrac and Conques, the local authorities of the area that the Puy en Velay route to Santiago de Compostela (GR®65) runs through have carried out a series of developments to help you discover this pedestrian and cultural route that is laden with meaning and history. Information boards line the 80 km section of the route. They will provide you with the tools to discover the heritage that is visible from the route (Romanesque monuments, landscape, geology, rural life, etc.)
A multimedia application (to download free of charge to smartphones and tablets - see below) helps to guide you and give you information about services (accommodation, food, visits, etc.).
You will find extra information on the elements to discover.
Facilities have also been designed for the safety and well-being of users: picnic areas, waterless toilets, footpaths alongside roads, signposts, path maintenance, etc.

The GR® and how to use it

The greatest care is taken to maintain the route and to welcome you in our villages so that the walk is a pleasant one for you. Nevertheless, you are responsible along the way.
Please take your rubbish away with you. There are lots of litter bins and toilets along the route.
The best way to observe nature is to respect it (no loud noises or shouting, avoid walking in big groups, etc.). Do not pick flowers, do not disturb the wildlife and herds of livestock. Respect fencing and private property.
Even on foot, please abide by the Highway Code. Warning: in foggy weather, some routes may be dangerous. Start when the fog has lifted or walk along the side of the roadway.
The route is a way to open up to nature, the life of the inhabitants and the traditions and history of the towns and villages you go through: the people of Aveyron invite you to share their convivial way of life, be curious and feel free to talk to the people you meet!

Information : Espalion Tourist Office : 05 65 44 10 63 / Web : www.tourisme-espalion.fr Comité Départemental du Tourisme de l’Aveyron (Aveyron Tourist Board): www.tourisme-aveyron.com

Chapelle des Pénitents - Penitent's chapel (XIIe)

[la capèla dels penitents]

Formerly called Saint Pierre de la Bouysse, this Romanesque chapel (a listed building) was the seat of the brotherhood of Pénitents up until 1930. Located where the draille [draia] d'Aubrac or drovers' road met with the Roman road, used by pilgrims, the village grew up around the chapel and its role as hospice.
It has preserved a large part of its Romanesque architecture, with its open belfry, its roof in the shape of the keel of an upside down boat (a common feature in this part of the Lot Valley) and its apse with a cornice decorated with modillions adorned with figures and foliage.
A good number of public figures and craftsmen of Saint Côme d'Olt are buried beneath its flagstones.
The chapel houses a permanent exhibition on the twisted steeples of France and Europe and on medicine of the Middle Ages, tying in with the initial purpose of the place, and Saint Côme, patron saint of the village and of doctors

The convent of Malet

[lo covent de Maler]

Beyond the walls and houses can be seen the Convent of Malet, a former possession of the Domerie d'Aubrac.
It is home to the sisters of the Ursuline union of Saint Angela Merici.

On the route of Santiago de Compostela in Aveyron

[pel camin romiu roergàs]

The 17 kilometres from Saint Côme d'Olt to Estaing are inscribed on the World Heritage List under the 'Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France'. In the same way as the section between Nasbinals and Saint Chély d'Aubrac (17 km), the route between Saint Côme d'Olt and Estaing is one of the typical examples of what the path followed by pilgrims might have been like in the past.

Five further sections of the route from Le Puy en Velay, the Via Podiensis, in the Lot, Gers and Pyrénées Atlantiques, illustrate the route followed by pilgrims during the Middle Ages. 71 bridges and religious buildings or hospices, located in 13 regions, have also been inscribed on the World Heritage List for the same reason since 1998.
They are milestones on the routes followed by jacquets (the name given to pilgrims on their way to Santiago).
They bear witness to the spiritual and material aspects of the pilgrimage during the Middle Ages. Nowadays, these routes have opened up as hiking paths. Since the 1990s, a large number of walkers have travelled these paths, whether for cultural or spiritual reasons.

UNESCO World Heritage Géolocalisation

'Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed'.
Ellen Wilkinson, Minister of Education for Great Britain at the inaugural session of UNESCO.

In 1945, the world was awakening from the nightmare of war.
On 16 November, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was set up by the League of Nations. Its aim: to build peace in the minds of men through education, science, culture and communication in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom for everyone, regardless of race, gender, language or religion.

UNESCO's action in aid of world heritage serves this cause. Inscription on the World Heritage List consists in identifying, protecting and preserving, throughout the world, the cultural and natural heritage deemed to have exceptional universal value. Its loss would be irreplaceable.
There are currently nearly 1,000 'Properties' in 160 countries inscribed on the World Heritage List, 38 of which are in France.

Saint-Côme-d’Olt / Espalion / Estaing Géolocalisation

This part of the Lot Valley is of outstanding scenic interest, despite the large-scale urbanisation of Espalion. On the right bank, the well-exposed slopes are mainly limestone. They have enabled vineyards to be planted, a major component of the Eucharistic ritual, in an area well into the Massif Central. On the left bank, the slopes, where the former cereal-growing plateau of the causse Comtal ends, bear the hallmark of a variety of volcanic formations.
The most important is Roquelaure*, a basalt lava flow that stretches out over more than two kilometres to form a ridge. The alternation of geological features is spectacular, with the presence of pebbles and alluvial deposits, red earth, limestone plateaux and schistous areas [segalars] creating extremely diverse vegetation and farming practices that have an impact on the traditional habitat.
This way has been followed by travellers and pilgrims who have enjoyed an easy communication route over this section of their journey. The Romanesque buildings that line the route (church of Perse, church of Saint Pierre de Bessuéjouls) and the bridges [pònts romius] over the Lot in Espalion and Estaing are evidence of this.

* This lava flow, an inverted relief today, shows spectacular masses of fallen rocks around its perimeter, wrongly called 'lava flow' on the tourist information boards. The local name is clapas de Thubiès.

Pont vieux - Old bridge

[lo Pònt vièlh]

« Santiago de Compostela was the supreme goal for countless thousands of pious pilgrims who converged there from all over Europe. To reach Spain pilgrims had to pass through France and the group of important historical monuments included in this inscription on the World Heritage List marks out the routes by which they did so. »

UNESCO letter of notification sent to the French government on 29 December 1998.

There was already a bridge in Espalion in the 10C. But the first mention of it in writing dates back to 1060.
That year, Baron de Calmont gave Conques Abbey a share of the toll levied on salt as it passed through from the Mediterranean to Aubrac and the Cantal Mountains (cheese dairies). In fact, in Espalion, both in the Middle Ages and under the Ancien Régime, there would be the biggest salt warehouse in Rouergue. The town came about because of the bridge and it was built around the path leading into it, Rue Droite [la carrièira drecha].
The lord derived financial advantage from the bridge (toll fees and dues for the town's fairs and markets).
The bridge appears to go back to the 13C, just like the two bridges in Entraygues sur Truyère, downstream.
The gothic structure, which has been modified several times, was initially equipped with three towers that used to house a guardroom, like the Pont Valentré bridge in Cahors.
In the 16C, during the Wars of Religion, a drawbridge in place of the last arch on the right bank was put in to add the final touch to this defensive system that was destroyed at the beginning of the 18C, the towers pulled down and the drawbridge replaced by a semi-circular arch.
There also used to be houses (shops?), in corbelled arrangement on either side. They were demolished in 1699, after being bought by the town.

Architecture

The bridge, built of red sandstone, probably dates back to the 13C.
It has a clearly outlined hump and four arches with a triple rolled edge (three arches on top of each other): the top one is quarter round shaped and slightly protruding which made it possible to widen the floor slab in the 18C. The arches form flattened ribs; the one on the left bank is semi-circular.

Pont Vieux is the oldest monument in the town. A bridge is mentioned in a deed of donation by the Lords of Calmont in 1060. The current structure built with a hump and four piers with triangular upstream and downstream cutwaters made from red sandstone, most probably dates back to the late 13C. The arches have a triple rolled edge (three arches on top of each other); the top one is quarter round shaped and slightly protruding which made it possible to widen the floor slab in the 18C. For a long time, this bridge had three towers and stalls arranged in corbel fashion on each side. During the Wars of Religion a drawbridge took the place of the last arch on the right bank. At the beginning of the 18C, the towers and stalls were pulled down and the drawbridge was replaced by a semi-circular arch, contrasting with the other three that are slightly pointed. It was put on the Historic Monuments list in 1888.

See the town tour brochure - Pont Vieux bridge

Pont Vieux, the Old Bridge Géolocalisation

The structure, most probably dating back to the late 13C, is built of red sandstone. It has four arches with three arches on top of each other and a characteristic hump shape. Modified several times, the structure on which the Lords of Calmont used to collect toll fees was equipped with three towers that once housed a guardroom, like the Pont Valentré bridge in Cahors. In the 16C, a drawbridge was put up (right bank) to add to this defensive system. Destroyed in the early 18C, it also used to have small houses, pulled down c. 1700 after being bought by the town.

Calquières (former tanneries) Géolocalisation

This is the name given to the old tanneries that stretch out along the right bank of the Lot. They are typical what with their wooden corbelled balconies and their sloping roofs. Just above the river, large flat stones jutting out (known as gandouliers) were used to wash the hides. They were laid out in staircase fashion so that whatever the level of the water, immersion was always possible. This prosperous industry, built on trade between Espalion and the neighbouring plateaux, carried on until the First World War.

See the town tour brochure - Former tanneries

Espalion

[Espaliu]

See the Espalion guide tour

The town owes its prosperity to its strategic location, between Auvergne and Rouergue, and the only crossing point over the Lot that it commanded. From the 12C, Espalion became an important stage on the Route to Santiago de Compostela. The medieval town was built on the left bank of the Lot, to the west of an initial village.

Pont Vieux [lo Pont-Vièlh] – the Old Bridge first mentioned in 1060 – is the prominent feature that enabled the site to develop.
In 1266, the lord of Calmont bestowed franchises on the town which grew and built fortifications. Around 1300, there is mention of a hospice, still in connection with the passing through of pilgrims. In the letters patent issued by François I to establish the weekly market in Espalion, there is record of ' ...a large path and passageway, when coming or going from Languedoc and Toulouse to Paris and Lyon, in a fairly rich and fertile district, to which goods and merchandise flood in and merchants and other people pass through again and again...'.

In more recent times, trade between the Aubrac plateau and the valley made its mark on the town, with its huge livestock fairs or the tanneries that have left a very unusual architectural heritage on the banks of the Lot: the calquières [calquièiras] as they were called.

Did you know that two of the seven sections of the Route to Santiago de Compostela in France inscribed on the World Heritage List are in Aveyron? There are also four bridges inscribed and Sainte Foy abbey-church in Conques. This represents a remarkable heritage which stretches out over 80 km, from the Aubrac plateau to the Lot Valley. A flow of pedestrian travellers has carved out its path in this landscape.
The Routes to Santiago de Compostela are both unique and universal: they have been fashioned for over 1,000 years in step with feelings, chance encounters and a sense of sharing.

Unesco World Heritage

The year was 1945. The world was awakening from a nightmare that had gone beyond the bounds of horror. On 16 November, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was set up by the League of Nations.
Its aim: to build peace in the minds of men through education, science, culture and communication in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom for everyone, regardless of race, gender, language or religion. The 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage served UNESCO's ideal of peace and dialogue. Inscription on the World Heritage List consists in identifying, protecting and preserving, throughout the world, the cultural and natural heritage deemed to have exceptional universal value.
World Heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the world. There are currently nearly 1,000 'Properties' in 160 countries inscribed on the World Heritage List. France has 38 inscribed Properties.

The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

In the pious Middle Ages, making a pilgrimage to a holy place, and the relics of the martyrs this place housed, was an essential deed in the life of a believer. The relic of a saint perpetuates his presence and his favourable influence. It provides protection, cure, succour and so on. Saint Peter, Saint Paul, the first Christian martyrs in Rome, the sites of Christ's life and passion in Jerusalem, attracted pilgrims from all over the Christian West. Around 830, the relics of the apostle James, beheaded by Herod in Palestine in 44 A.D. were miraculously discovered in Compostela (Galicia, Spain). The difficulties encountered by Christians to make their way to the Holy Land, together with the symbol that James the Apostle represented in the Reconquista*, drew the West's attention to this tomb that became one of the major pilgrimages right from the end of the first millennium. Thousands of pilgrims, kings, bishops and ordinary men carried out the journey to Galicia to meditate at the tomb of one of Christ's closest companions.
Four symbolic routes epitomized the countless routes that pilgrims converging on the Pyrenees used to follow. As they wended their way, they visited the many sanctuaries and called upon a litany of saints. They fulfilled their devotions and found charitable assistance.
Their routes played an essential part in trade and religious and cultural development during the Middle Ages.
The many buildings and places of worship that lined these routes are still evidence of that today.

* Reconquest of Muslim kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula by Catholic rulers between 718 and 1492.

The Route in Aveyron

In 1998, the 'Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France' were inscribed on the World Heritage List because of their exceptional universal value.
This inscription took the form of a selection of 71 buildings and 7 stretches of the way which bore witness to the routes and places frequented by pilgrims wanting to go to Santiago de Compostela. In Aveyron, several edifices are recognised as World Heritage because they are outstanding landmarks on the route followed by pilgrims: the bridges over the Boralde in Saint Chély d'Aubrac, over the Lot in Espalion and Estaing and over the Dourdou in Conques; Sainte Foy Abbey-church in Conques, a place of pilgrimage in its own right dedicated to young Sainte Foy. Pilgrims on the Way of St James, referred to as jacquets, were advised to visit it as early as the Middle Ages;

Nasbinals (Lozère) / Aubrac / Saint-Chély-d'Aubrac : 17 km from the Aubrac plateau to its foothills; Saint Côme d'Old / Espalion / Estaing: 17 km along the Lot Valley.

Must-sees

A tour circuit helps you to discover the most beautiful historic buildings in Espalion.
These include pilgrim heritage (Pont Vieux – Historical Monument), the Vieux Palais (Old Renaissance Palace), the Chapelle des Pénitents chapel, the portal of the Chapel of the Ursuline Convent, the parish church, Saint Jean Baptiste Church (Historic Monument) which houses the Joseph Vaylet Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions and the very unusual Museum of Diving Suits, the Musée du Rouergue museum of old prisons.

Tourism and handicap

Several touch tables for the visually impaired have been set up. The first is just a few metres away from this board; the other two are at Pont Vieux (figure 18 on the map). In the Tourist Office, there is also a large-scale model of the itinerary through Aveyron of the Route to Santiago de Compostela.
The whole discovery trail in the town centre is accessible to people with reduced mobility, as are the cultural sites and public services.

Facilities for you

Between Aubrac and Conques, the local authorities of the area that the Puy en Velay route to Santiago de Compostela (GR®65) runs through have carried out a series of developments to help you discover this pedestrian and cultural route that is laden with meaning and history. Information boards line the 80 km section of the route. They will provide you with the tools to discover the heritage that is visible from the route (Romanesque monuments, landscape, geology, rural life, etc.)
A multimedia application (to download free of charge to smartphones and tablets - see below) helps to guide you and give you information about services (accommodation, food, visits, etc.).
You will find extra information on the elements to discover.
Facilities have also been designed for the safety and well-being of users: picnic areas, waterless toilets, footpaths alongside roads, signposts, path maintenance, etc.

The GR® and how to use it

The greatest care is taken to maintain the route and to welcome you in our villages so that the walk is a pleasant one for you. Nevertheless, you are responsible along the way.
Please take your rubbish away with you. There are lots of litter bins and toilets along the route.
The best way to observe nature is to respect it (no loud noises or shouting, avoid walking in big groups, etc.). Do not pick flowers, do not disturb the wildlife and herds of livestock. Respect fencing and private property.
Even on foot, please abide by the Highway Code. Warning: in foggy weather, some routes may be dangerous. Start when the fog has lifted or walk along the side of the roadway.
The route is a way to open up to nature, the life of the inhabitants and the traditions and history of the towns and villages you go through:
the people of Aveyron invite you to share their convivial way of life, be curious and feel free to talk to the people you meet!

Information: Espalion Tourist Office: 05 65 44 10 63 / Web : www.tourisme-espalion.fr
Comité Départemental du Tourisme de l’Aveyron (Aveyron Tourist Board): www.tourisme-aveyron.com

The cattle market

[lo fièiral]

As early as the 15C*, there is evidence of a cattle market where cereal from the causse, livestock from the Aubrac plateau and wine from the Lot valley were traded.
Around 1550, there were five cattle fairs per year which attracted merchants from France, Spain and Béarn.

* Register of ' estimas' (taxes) paid in Espalion in 1403

Up until the middle of the 20C, cattle markets maintained an important economic and social role. People came from all the surrounding villages, by cart or herding the livestock on foot, and then in the first vans.
Essentially for commercial reasons, going to the fair was also the opportunity to meet up and – for the men – to make merry in the cafés which were always full. Livestock markets gradually died out after the Second World War. They have been replaced by large markets of regional or European calling (Baraqueville, Laissac), which focus operations in big modern halls, suited to the new forms of negotiating livestock

See cattle market and city tour booklet

Diving apparatus

This strange statue of a deep-sea diver, on the right bank of the Lot, pays tribute to Benoît Rouquayrol, a state qualified mining engineer, and Auguste Denayrouze, a naval lieutenant.
In 1864, these two natives of Espalion presented a revolutionary invention: 'diving apparatus' equipped with a pressure regulator vessel that would be the 'birth certificate of the modern scuba set'.

Rouquayrol's idea was to provide French industry with equipment enabling a person to breathe, to move and to work freely in stifling environments, especially at the bottom of mining pits.

Denayrouze added to the invention by creating a suit made watertight by a layer of liquid rubber.
On 13 March 1865, Rouquayrol-Denayrouze's diving equipment was used for the first time in the navy to clean the hull of the battleship 'Le Taureau'. In 1867, the Paris World Fair awarded it its gold medal.

Anecdote...

In the 19C, fairs in Espalion provided the opportunity for demonstrations by cabussaires (divers) who indulged in fishing underwater in the Lot without any breathing apparatus.

A museum worth visiting

The Musée du Scaphandre Diving Suit Museum relates this extraordinary adventure from the great century of inventions.
It displays one of the very rare known specimens, listed on the Historic Monuments list in 2006.

Information from Espalion Tourist Office: 05.65.44.10.63
www.museeduscaphandre.com

Château de Calmont d'Olt

The fortified Château de Calmont d'Olt is an important landmark of medieval Rouergue. It is a perfect example of how châteaux adapted their architecture to technological breakthroughs and to changes in siege techniques. Perched on a basalt spur, this guard kept watch over the town of Espalion, the Lot Valley, the Aubrac plateau and the causses.

Traces are found as early as the 9C in the cartulary of Conques Monastery of the château site being occupied, so it is one of the oldest baronies in Rouergue; the de Calmont d'Olt family died out in 1298 2 with the passing of Raymond de Calmont d'Olt, Bishop of Rodez and architect 1 of Rodez Cathedral.

The construction of the present stronghold began in the 11C and went on until the 17C with the creation, during the Hundred Years' War, of an outstanding lower wall equipped with eight towers and thirty-two arrowslits and cannon ports. After that date, no further modifications were made and it would keep its medieval fortress look as we know it today.
3 In the 17C, deserted by its owners who preferred the more comfortable homes in the Lot Valley, it fell into ruin.

A château still very much alive

The remains of the château de Calmont were listed as a Historic Monument in 1992 and much has been done to preserve and enhance them. Today, visitors can find out about the archaeology of the site, but can also discover events that bring medieval culture back to life, how the machines of war worked and how to wield weapons, etc...

Contact : 05.65.51.69.92 / www.chateaucalmont.org

Quilles de huit - eightpins

The statue of the 'Skittles player', by Michel Besson, celebrates the centenary of the coding of eightpins (1912) - a sport typically played in Aveyron - in its birthplace of Espalion.
This game, which was much played in many villages up until the end of the 19C, is still popular in Aveyron and a few surrounding areas, where it is associated with a French championship and an array of festivities.

The game is played on a clay pitch: eight wooden skittles are laid out in a specific pattern.
Each player has a skittle to play with [quilhon / 'quiliou' or tampe / 'tampe'] and a large hardwood ball weighing 4-6 kg. The game is played in nine shots, at short, medium and long distance (from 1 to 20 metres). The player has to knock down as many skittles as possible, firstly with their quiliou hit by the ball, then with the ball itself. Each skittle knocked down earns a point, 'une quille' (pronounced /key/), with a maximum total of 80. The teams (made up of 2 or 4 players) do not play against each other, each team plays its game and at the end of the round the team with the best score wins. A good individual score starts at 50 quilles and can border on 70 (the record is 68). A shot scoring no points is called a 'buffle'.

The game, codified in 1912 in Espalion, celebrated its centenary in 2012.
There is an exhibition on it at the Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions.

On the route of Santiago de Compostela in Aveyron

[pel camin romiu roergàs]

The 17 kilometres from Saint Côme d'Olt to Estaing are inscribed on the World Heritage List under the 'Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France'. In the same way as the section between Nasbinals and Saint Chély d'Aubrac (17 km), the route between Saint Côme d'Olt and Estaing is one of the typical examples of what the path followed by pilgrims might have been like in the past.

Five further sections of the route from Le Puy en Velay, the Via Podiensis, in the Lot, Gers and Pyrénées Atlantiques, illustrate the route followed by pilgrims during the Middle Ages. 71 bridges, religious buildings or hospices, located in 13 regions, have also been inscribed on the World Heritage List for the same reason since 1998.
They are milestones on the routes followed by jacquets (the name given to pilgrims on their way to Santiago).
They bear witness to the spiritual and material aspects of the pilgrimage during the Middle Ages. Nowadays, these routes have opened up as hiking paths. Since the 1990s, a large number of walkers have travelled these paths, whether for cultural or spiritual reasons.

UNESCO World Heritage Géolocalisation

'Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed'.
Ellen Wilkinson, Minister of Education for Great Britain at the inaugural session of UNESCO.

In 1945, the world was awakening from the nightmare of war.
On 16 November, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was set up by the League of Nations. Its aim: to build peace in the minds of men through education, science, culture and communication in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom for everyone, regardless of race, gender, language or religion.

UNESCO's action in aid of world heritage serves this cause. Inscription on the World Heritage List consists in identifying, protecting and preserving, throughout the world, the cultural and natural heritage deemed to have exceptional universal value. Its loss would be irreplaceable.
There are currently nearly 1,000 'Properties' in 160 countries inscribed on the World Heritage List, 38 of which are in France.

Saint-Côme-d’Olt / Espalion / Estaing Géolocalisation

This part of the Lot Valley is of outstanding scenic interest, despite the large-scale urbanisation of Espalion. On the right bank, the well-exposed slopes are mainly limestone. They have enabled vineyards to be planted, a major component of the Eucharistic ritual, in an area well into the Massif Central. On the left bank, the slopes, where the former cereal-growing plateau of the causse Comtal ends, bear the hallmark of a variety of volcanic formations.
The most important is Roquelaure*, a basalt lava flow that stretches out over more than two kilometres to form a ridge. The alternation of geological features is spectacular, with the presence of pebbles and alluvial deposits, red earth, limestone plateaux and schistous areas [segalars] creating extremely diverse vegetation and farming practices that have an impact on the traditional habitat.
This way has been followed by travellers and pilgrims who have enjoyed an easy communication route over this section of their journey. The Romanesque buildings that line the route (church of Perse, church of Saint Pierre de Bessuéjouls) and the bridges [pònts romius] over the Lot in Espalion and Estaing are evidence of this.

Vieux Palais, Old Renaissance Palace

The Vieux Palais (used as a courthouse in the 19C) is a Renaissance building erected in 1572 by Bernardin de la Valette, tasked by the consuls with defending Espalion during the Wars of Religion. Standing on a rocky spur facing the Lot, its northern façade, reproduced below, is made up of 3 floors with mullioned or transom windows set in it.

The Palace boasts a robust northern tower and a delicate corner turret. The latter, built of dressed stone and corbelled beneath a cone-shaped roof, is decorated with a carved corbel where a wavy frieze stands out.

Place du Griffoul

Place du Griffoul (fountain in Occitan), between Rue Droite and Pont Vieux bridge, was the town's main square. The water from the fountain came from a spring tapped at the foot of Butte de Calmont hillock. The market used to be held in this square surrounded by houses built above arches. A covered hall with a stone used to measure grain stood in the middle of it. The square was completely altered when Pont Neuf bridge was built and the houses along the banks of the Lot destroyed to make way for the current Quai Henri Affre.

See the town tour brochure - Fountain

Vieux Palais, Old Renaissance Palace

The Renaissance-style building, commonly called the Old Palace (because it was a courthouse in the 19C) was built in 1572 thanks to the 'noble Bernardin de la Valette' tasked by the consuls with Espalion's defence during the Wars of Religion. Standing on a rocky spur, facing the Lot, it artfully combines the robustness of its northern tower and the delicacy of the corner turret overlooking the Foirail. The latter, built of dressed stone and corbelled beneath a cone-shaped roof, is decorated with a lavishly carved corbel where an attractive wavy frieze stands out. At the top, it is flanked by a small loggia. Transom and mullioned windows are set into the façade on all three floors and highlighted by prominent stringcourses. Made available by the Association for the Revival of the Old Palace, this picturesque building has been fitted out to welcome artists-in-residence programmes.

See the town tour brochure - The Old Palace (Vieux Palais)

The Vieux Palais (used as a courthouse in the 19C) is a Renaissance building erected in 1572 by Bernardin de la Valette, tasked by the consuls with defending Espalion during the Wars of Religion. Standing on a rocky spur facing the Lot, its northern façade, reproduced below, is made up of 3 floors with mullioned or transom windows set in it.

The Palace boasts a robust northern tower and a delicate corner turret. The latter, built of dressed stone and corbelled beneath a cone-shaped roof, is decorated with a carved corbel where a wavy frieze stands out.

Chapelle des Ursulines chapel

The Ursuline Chapel used to belong to a vast group of buildings, the Ursuline Convent, located outside the town's enclosed faubourg, on the right bank, where the current post office stands. Building began in 1656 and was only completed in 1674. When it was pulled down in 1968, only the stones from the main gate were kept. They were put back up again in 2001, on the left bank, at the entrance to the Foirail (former cattle market) on rue Saint Joseph. The four columns with Corinthian capitals used to frame the recesses for statues of Saint Ursula and Saint Augustin which 'disappeared' in the 20C. Above the lintel is the carved coat of arms of the Lords of Calmont who founded the convent. The broken pediment used to flank a statue of Our Lady. The fact that this chapel was destroyed is all the more regrettable since it was one of the rare illustrations of Rouergue classical style in the 18C.

See the town tour brochure - Ursulines

Foirail

This former fairground has become a pleasant place through which to stroll in summer, beneath the shade of the hundred-year-old plane trees bordering the Lot. It is also a leisure area where the canoe and kayak base, camp site, swimming pool, crazy golf, tennis courts, childrens' playground and other sports pitches are all to be found. A huge area has been set aside for the game of eightpin skittles (jeu de quilles de 8) symbolised by the statue of a player erected in 1992. From the riverbank, the Old Renaissance Palace, a line of age-old houses and Pont Vieux bridge mirrored in the deep waters of the Lot form a stunning picture. On the right bank, a statue of a deep-sea diver, in tribute to the inventors of the autonomous diving suit who came from Espalion, stands alongside the Lot.

(*) The bust of Joseph Vaylet, a member of the Félibrige literary association and founder of the Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions, stands in the garden near Square Albert Girbal (an Occitan writer) and the Old Renaissance Palace.

See the town tour brochure - Foirail

Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs chapel

Built in 1700, disused and then rehabilitated as from 2001, the Chapel of the White Penitents, whose brotherhood came into being in 1668, has a distinctive feature on its façade: a door surrounded by a jointed facing and topped by an arched pediment. A bull's eye window and two semi-circular arched windows surround a recess housing a statue of the Virgin. Inside, an 18C reredos, made of painted and gilded wood, features the Circumcision of Jesus in the centre, the Nativity on the right and the Adoration of the Magi on the left. The twisted columns and pilasters crowned with flowerpots are inspired by Baroque decoration. Among the various pieces restored at the instigation of the Friends of the Chapel, it is worth mentioning: an extremely rare 17C Christ made of pasteboard on a processional cross and an 18C painted wood Christ lying in the tomb. On the floor, funeral flagstones bear some engraved names and initials, a heart surmounted by a cross and the drawing of an object that looks like a tanner's tool.

See the town tour brochure - Pénitents

Maison d’Assézat house

On Place du Puits square is an old town house built during the 16C. It was the birthplace of Pierre Assézat, a merchant who made a fortune by selling pastel (a vegetable dye), who had the lavish 'Hôtel d'Assézat', seat of the Académie des Sciences, Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, built in Toulouse in the Renaissance style.

See the town tour brochure - Assézat

Former Church of St Jean Baptiste

On the market square

This former parish church, construction of which began in the late 15C, was given a beautiful flamboyant Gothic-style door in 1508 which is now badly damaged and worn. It is the work of a great artist, Antoine Salvanh, architect of the steeple of Rodez Cathedral from 1512 on. The quadrangular belfry used to house the town clock.

See the town tour brochure - St Jean

On the boulevard

Disused following the construction of a new church, it became the Town Hall between 1897 and 1948. A neo-Gothic façade was grafted onto its truncated apse and flanked by two turrets surrounding a loggia topped by the town's coat of arms. A monumental staircase with two flights of stairs leads to the first floor which has housed part of the Joseph Vaylet Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions since 1975. The ground floor is home to the Diving Suit Museum. Note the lovely hexagonal steeple and spire that have recently been restored.

Musée du Scaphandre Diving Suit Museum

This museum was created by Lucien Cabrolié and based on the inventions by two natives of Espalion, Benoît Rouquayrol and Auguste Denayrouze who, in 1864, invented the first modern diving suit in the history of diving. Jules Verne took inspiration from their device to equip Captain Nemo in his novel '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'. The first trials were carried out in the Lot. Many rare, even unique, items attract specialists from around the world. A statue of a diver, in tribute to the great inventors, was put up in 2000 on the right bank of the Lot.

See the town tour brochure - Diving suit Museum

Musée du Rouergue Museum

Located in the town's former prison, it houses various collections of art and traditions of the Rouergue area. The prison was built in 1838 and was one of the first solitary confinement buildings in France. Its design was extremely advanced as far as hygiene, security and moral standards were concerned. Men were to be found in the right wing, women in the left and the main wing served as a chapel. It was closed in 1933 when prison buildings were centralised (the cells on the first floor are used to store the library collections belonging to the Joseph Vaylet Museum, a treasure trove of more than 6,000 works mainly about the traditions, history and language of Oc: access is for researchers only).

See the town tour brochure - Rouergue Museum

Tour Michou tower

Last remaining tower of the six that formed the fortified enclosure of Espalion, built between the 14C and 15C. It protected the population during the Hundred Years' War and later the Wars of Religion.

See the town tour brochure

Parish church

Built of pink sandstone in neo-Gothic style at the end of the 19C. Legend has it that its 45-metre-high twin towers wanted to remind people of the famous steeple of Rodez Cathedral! They are crowned by 3-metre-high statues of the Virgin and Saint Joseph. The three-door façade is decorated with statues of the Good Shepherd, Saint John the Baptist and Saint Hilarian, patron saint of the town. Inside, fixed to a wall of the southern apsidiole, a group made of bronze, carved in high relief by Aveyron artist Denys Puech portrays the martyrdom of Saint Hilarian. In the arms of the transept a painting portrays Saint Joseph protecting the town at the foot of Château de Calmont. This ex-voto was painted in 1658 following a terrible plague epidemic. Opposite, in the north arm, a lovely painted canvas showing the Last Supper has recently been restored. The main altar and its monumental reredos are made of marble from Poitou, as is the pulpit.

See the town tour brochure

Calquières (former tanneries)

This is the name given to the old tanneries that stretch out along the right bank of the Lot. They are typical what with their wooden corbelled balconies and their sloping roofs. Just above the river, large flat stones jutting out (known as gandouliers) were used to wash the hides. They were laid out in staircase fashion so that whatever the level of the water, immersion was always possible. This prosperous industry, built on trade between Espalion and the neighbouring plateaux, carried on until the First World War.

See the town tour brochure - Former tanneries

Pont Vieux, the Old Bridge

The structure, most probably dating back to the late 13C, is built of red sandstone. It has four arches with three arches on top of each other and a characteristic hump shape. Modified several times, the structure on which the Lords of Calmont used to collect toll fees was equipped with three towers that once housed a guardroom, like the Pont Valentré bridge in Cahors. In the 16C, a drawbridge was put up (right bank) to add to this defensive system. Destroyed in the early 18C, it also used to have small houses, pulled down c. 1700 after being bought by the town.

Saint-Pierre-de-Bessuéjouls

[Sant-Pèire de Bessuèjols]

This unassuming red sandstone church conceals some remarkable artistic treasures.
Modified in the 16C, it has kept the Romanesque architecture (12C) of its bell tower intact. Construction of the church and especially of the bell tower and integrated entrance is attributed to the Abbey of Saint Victor in Marseille, to which the priory of Bessuéjouls was united in 1082.

The square tower houses an upper chapel, on the first floor, which is a little known gem of Romanesque art (access from the inside of the church via a difficult stairway). It was shored up to the north and south by two fore-parts whose façade is decorated with a set of blind arches showing, in the middle, a three-lobed arch and, on either side, two semicircular arches dropping onto the capitals of small columns built against it. Beneath the overhang of the sloping roof we see a series of beautiful modillions decorated with animals, diverse figures and people among whom 'the Whore of Babylon', her breasts bare, a mass of hair and pigs' trotters for feet!

Beneath its great arch, walled up today, was the main door which gave access to the church porch.
In 1305, the priory of Bessuéjouls was given by Pierre de Pleinecassagne, bishop of Rodez, archbishop of Jerusalem, to the Augustines of Pébrac (Haute Loire). Mention is also made of a leper-house close by, in 1324.

The church

In gothic times, the nave and chancel were modified and covered with a pointed barrel vault. Three chapels were also opened. In the rectangular chancel, separated from the nave by an ogee arch, there are two semicircular covered recesses and a small liturgical piscina or sacrarium to the right of the altar.
The reredos on the main altar, made of painted and gilded wood, is from the 17C.
To the left of the reredos, up high, on the flat wall of the chancel, you can make out the remains of paint which reveal a small veiled face of a woman who is perhaps wearing a crown (first half of the 14C).
The lower room of the belfry is covered with a groined vault, reinforced by ribbing, a sort of early ribbed vault. It connects up with the nave by a semicircular arch dropping onto twin columns.

This is a place of worship, please respect the peace and quiet here.

Know more about the church

The hupper chapel

This construction, dedicated to Archangel Saint Michael, refers to the legend of his apparition to young shepherds on Monte Gargano (Italy).
If there was no summit, where sanctuaries dedicated to the archangel were often built, Saint Michael was sometimes paid tribute to in upper chapels of this type, as early as the Carolingian era.

The staircase, built in the fore-church, leads to the chapel via symmetrical doors with lintels decorated with knotwork. Above, on a small tympanum, a logette bears an inscription in Latin, engraved in a semicircle, that can be translated: 'in the calends of June consecration of this place in the church' (with no mention of the year). Built against the western wall, a four-arched structure reveals, between two small columns, a door opening onto an empty space. It was probably there to give access to the floor from the outside before the fore-church was built.

In the upper corners of the central aisle, arches were built that were designed to receive a dome which was probably never constructed. This aisle communicates with the half-barrel vaulted side aisles via a double archway resting, in the middle, on a large column and on engaged columns at each end. Either side of the altar, two walled up openings had been provided for to open onto a Romanesque nave that was never built.

The altar decoration is particularly interesting.
Beneath a table with a basin dug into it, the front of the altar is divided into three panels forming a set of blind arches whose central arch is three-lobed, as in the set of blind arches on the fore-church. The other two, whose small columns have been hammered, are semi-circular.
In each panel there is knotwork showing palmette motifs and pine cones. On the left-hand side, the braiding of the knotwork surrounds Saint Michael slaying the dragon. On the right, this is probably Archangel Gabriel, holding a scroll on which the inscription has disappeared.

The knotwork and wickerwork decoration on the capitals is exemplary, but of special note are the extremely original illustrations on some of them:
- the mad man leaning on a reed,
- mermaid and centaurs (there is a similar capital in Conques),
- the Apocalypse (two angels holding the end of a banderole in one hand and, in the other, a haloed winged figure who has been mutilated),
- vines (two men amid vine branches and bunches of grapes).

Caution, difficult stairs! Géolocalisation

Access to the upper chapel is via a narrow, uneven and unlit staircase.

Le Barry

Lo barri, in Occitan, is the suburb situated outside the village - the faubourg.

The Collège

[lo collègi]

In Renaissance style, the Collège (a listed building) was built at the beginning of the 16C to take in priests from the Saint Jean de l'Ouradou brotherhood.
Today it houses the Town Hall and Tourist Office.

Passerelle du Collège - Footbridge

An amazing footbridge with stone balusters (18C).

The Coussane river

This tributary of the Lot springs from the flowing together of several streams that have their source in the foothills of the Aubrac plateau.
In the past, this was the 'industrious' part of Estaing what with its mills and its four bridges that provided the means to get to the gardens [òrts].

Know more about Olt's mill

Maison Annat - House

[l’ostal d’Annat]

This building was erected on the site of the house where François Annat was born. Annat was assistant general of France to the general of the Jesuits in Rome, a 17C controversialist to whom Pascal addressed his last Provincial Letters, and confessor of the young Louis XIV during the first sixteen years of his reign.
He was one of the most powerful 'behind the scenes' decision-makers in France..

The château

[lo castèl]

This château, fief for nearly eight centuries of the Estaing family, one of the most important in Rouergue, is an extremely original structure because of a series of modifications.
Mentioned in the records since the 11C, it is made up of several buildings of varying height, built from the 13C up until the mid 20C, around a hexagonal tower whose top is confined by five turrets, a lantern-shaped roof and a terrace that overlooks the Lot.
It became the property of the Château d'Estaing non-trading real estate company in 2005 and since 2012 the building belongs to the Fondation Valéry Giscard d'Estaing..

Know more about Estaing's Castle

Pont d'Estaing - Estaing bridge

[lo pònt d’Estanh]

« Santiago de Compostela was the supreme goal for countless thousands of pious pilgrims who converged there from all over Europe.
To reach Spain pilgrims had to pass through France and the group of important historical monuments included in this inscription on the World Heritage List marks out the routes by which they did so. »

UNESCO letter of notification sent to the French government on 29 December 1998.

At the beginning of the 16C, François d'Estaing, bishop of Rodez, granted indulgences to those people who would provide money to build this bridge which was to promote peaceful relations and help travellers (pilgrims and merchants) to get about. The bridge was under the protection of Notre Dame des Sept Douleurs – Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows - ( del Cap del Pònt oratory, blessed in 1524).
A statue of its founder, the Blessed François d'Estaing, was put up in 1866 in the middle of the bridge, along with an iron cross immortalised by jeweller Henri Lesieur.

Architecture

Built of schist and dolomite, the bridge is gothic.
It has 4 identical pointed arches that are 16 m high and 10 m wide.
The top arches are with double keystones or with two full rows of stones. Cutwaters protect the piers upstream. They go right up to the top of the bridge where they form shelters.

THE IRON CROSS Géolocalisation

The cross on the bridge inspired Parisian jeweller Henri Lesieur (1908-1978) to create a jewel in 1958. This cross is characteristic of the technique used by the great wrought iron workers of the 18C. It is made up of a tangle of flat iron pieces forming lines that intersect and a pattern repeated 5 times: a flower with 4 petals inside a circle. An X-shaped cross decorates the junction of the arms. Lastly, a fleur de lys adorns the tip of the branches.

SAINT FLEURET Géolocalisation

Legend has it that he was regionary bishop of Auvergne, glorified by numerous miracles accomplished in his lifetime. In his presence, blind people would regain their sight and the lame would walk without any difficulty. Summoned to the Pope's side, he might have died on his return, in 621, while stopping over at Estaing. Worship of his relics, mentioned since the 15C, makes Estaing an important milestone on the route to Santiago de Compostela. Every first Sunday of July, a procession accompanies the dais that protects the shrine and relics of Saint Fleuret, whose bust is shown below. It is the opportunity to bless the bread and salt which protect house and livestock.

Chapelle du pont - Bridge chapel

[la capeleta del pònt]

The former oratory of Cap del Pònt, blessed in 1524 by François d'Estaing, shortly after the construction of the bridge spanning the Lot, made way for the Chapelle du Pont (Bridge Chapel) dedicated since 1727 to Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows.

Fontaine Saint-Fleuret - Fountain

[la fònt de Sant-Floret]

Opposite the former chapel of the Blue Penitents, now a bunkhouse, a fountain used to flow and, according to popular belief, it had miraculous powers.

Once upon a time

[un còp èra]

In the 17C, Estaing had around 2,000 inhabitants. There was a considerable amount of tertiary activity what with surgeons, notaries, bailiffs and many shopkeepers. In the Middle Ages, the epicentre of this activity appeared to be concentrated beneath a couvert* (shelter), no longer there today, located in what is now Rue François d'Estaing. Evidence of it can be found in old illustrations and in certain elements that have been reused (crypt pillar).
Shortly before the Revolution a census notes the presence in Estaing of a tanner, a tawer (a dresser of white leather), two dyers 'and enough weavers to make around 300 pieces of cloth'. Trade with mountain areas was the source of  'a considerable amount of business in groceries, iron and dyes.'

There were three fairs and markets six months of the year.
This activity, somewhat cramped in the village**, would expand over the following centuries and leave l'Abiouradou [Abeurador : abreuvoir (drinking trough)] for the present-day Place de la Poste, then the banks of the Lot and the livestock market as it is today, north of the village. Around the Fifties, Estaing used to host ten fairs per year, including La Loue [lòga] fair, traditionally held on 25 June, which enabled men to find work on mountain farms [bòrias] for the late haymaking.
Aveyron was greatly influenced by private Catholic education, which is still very much present today. Here, the nuns of Saint Joseph saved the château from ruin in 1836 (it became a convent and a girls' boarding school for 164 years).

* or covered passageway that used to shelter the shop stalls.
** Owing to the cramped conditions, the fairs were spread out around several points in the village. Cattle on one side, poultry on the other and pigs on the riverbank.

THE CHATEAU Géolocalisation

Mentioned in the records since the 11C, the chateau is made up of several buildings of varying height and period (15C, 16C and 17C). It is structured around an eight-sided tower whose top is confined by five turrets, a lantern-shaped roof and a terrace that overlooks the Lot. This monument is open to visitors (admission charge).

Major religious heritage

Saint-Fleuret church

[la glèisa Sant-Floret]

The church was built at the end of the 15C on the foundations of a former priory (mentioned in 1087). Initially dedicated to Saint Amans, it was then dedicated to Saint Fleuret, regionary bishop of Auvergne who died in Estaing in the 7C, whose relics kept in this church are still the object of an annual pilgrimage.
In the church there is the reliquary of Saint Fleuret (1880), penitents' staffs and sumptuous ornaments: altarpieces, statues and paintings from the 17C and 18C, as well as contemporary stained-glass windows by Claude Baillon.

Know more about Estaing's church

Place François Annat

Place François Annat (a square named after a confessor of Louis XIV, who was involved in controversy with Blaise Pascal, at the time of the Provincial Letters) formerly called Place de la Priousse [priussa], used to be home to the communal wine press [truèlh]. This place du pressoir was created in the 19C, after the cemetery adjoining the church was cleared.

The stone cross Géolocalisation

[la crotz de pèira]

This old 16C cemetery cross (listed as a Historical Monument) is on the church square. On one side, it depicts a bas relief of Christ on the cross, above a laying in the tomb.
Along the arm, on both sides, Mary Magdalene and a pilgrim [romiu] are engaged in private prayer, which shows the strong link between the site of Estaing and the pilgrimage on the Way of St James.
The other side shows a piéta surrounded by two little angels.

L'Abiouradou

This old square takes its name from the drinking trough [abeurador] for livestock.
Fairs were held here up until the 19C.

Estaing

[Estanh]

Listed as one of the 'Most Beautiful Villages of France', Estaing lies on the narrow part of an old meander at the mouth of the Lot gorges, at the confluence of the Coussane. It appears to owe its name, of Gallo-Roman origin, to this location, stagnum (latin), meaning étang, which became Estaing. Despite being in a very hilly location and the important commercial role of Espalion and Entraygues sur Truyère, Estaing managed to grow thanks to the civilian power of its lords.
The construction of the bridge over the Lot (1511) was of capital importance to the expansion that François d'Estaing inspired in order to develop the medieval town under his episcopate.
Situated on the pilgrims' path to Santiago de Compostela, at a strategic spot in relation to the surrounding plateaux, Estaing prospered through its vineyards, its lentils which were even sold in America (18C), its three fairs which began back in 1527, and its hemp, frieze and rase (material) industry. In the 17C, it was a central place of administration and economy.

Its architectural heritage is evidence of that!

Estaing of course also means the magnificent château of one of the leading families in Rouergue which gave a cardinal and general to the Pope's armies, nine bishops, chamberlains, governors, seneschals and high-ranking officers. The last representative of the family, Admiral Charles-Henri d'Estaing (who died on the scaffold in 1794) became famous during the Seven Years' War in India and the American War of Independence.
'Napoleon on land and Estaing at sea would have conquered the world'. Among the founders of Estaing's rich history, we must not forget Saint Fleuret [sant floret], who has been venerated since the 15C and whose relics were worshipped (and are still today) by churchgoers and pilgrims. Farmers used to pray to him to protect their livestock. Saint Fleuret is celebrated every year in Estaing on the first Sunday in July. The local people organise a procession that is part-religious, part-secular. The worship of local saints was particularly strong in this sector: Saint Védard in Coubisou, Saint Robert above the Monastère Cabrespines and, of course, the 'blessed' François d'Estaing.

Know more about Estaing

Did you know that two of the seven sections of the Route to Santiago de Compostela in France inscribed on the World Heritage List are in Aveyron? There are also four bridges inscribed and Sainte Foy abbey-church in Conques. This represents a remarkable heritage which stretches out over 80 km, from the Aubrac plateau to the Lot Valley. A flow of pedestrian travellers has carved out its path in this landscape.
The Routes to Santiago de Compostela are both unique and universal: they have been fashioned for over 1,000 years in step with feelings, chance encounters and a sense of sharing.

Unesco World Heritage

The year was 1945. The world was awakening from a nightmare that had gone beyond the bounds of horror. On 16 November, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was set up by the League of Nations.
Its aim: to build peace in the minds of men through education, science, culture and communication in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom for everyone, regardless of race, gender, language or religion. The 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage served UNESCO's ideal of peace and dialogue. Inscription on the World Heritage List consists in identifying, protecting and preserving, throughout the world, the cultural and natural heritage deemed to have exceptional universal value.
World Heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the world. There are currently nearly 1,000 'Properties' in 160 countries inscribed on the World Heritage List. France has 38 inscribed Properties.

The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

In the pious Middle Ages, making a pilgrimage to a holy place, and the relics of the martyrs this place housed, was an essential deed in the life of a believer. The relic of a saint perpetuates his presence and his favourable influence. It provides protection, cure, succour and so on. Saint Peter, Saint Paul, the first Christian martyrs in Rome, the sites of Christ's life and passion in Jerusalem, attracted pilgrims from all over the Christian West. Around 830, the relics of the apostle James, beheaded by Herod in Palestine in 44 A.D. were miraculously discovered in Compostela (Galicia, Spain). The difficulties encountered by Christians to make their way to the Holy Land, together with the symbol that James the Apostle represented in the Reconquista*, drew the West's attention to this tomb that became one of the major pilgrimages right from the end of the first millennium. Thousands of pilgrims, kings, bishops and ordinary men carried out the journey to Galicia to meditate at the tomb of one of Christ's closest companions.
Four symbolic routes epitomized the countless routes that pilgrims converging on the Pyrenees used to follow. As they wended their way, they visited the many sanctuaries and called upon a litany of saints. They fulfilled their devotions and found charitable assistance.
Their routes played an essential part in trade and religious and cultural development during the Middle Ages.
The many buildings and places of worship that lined these routes are still evidence of that today.

* Reconquest of Muslim kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula by Catholic rulers between 718 and 1492.

The Route in Aveyron

In 1998, the 'Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France' were inscribed on the World Heritage List because of their exceptional universal value.
This inscription took the form of a selection of 71 buildings and 7 stretches of the way which bore witness to the routes and places frequented by pilgrims wanting to go to Santiago de Compostela. In Aveyron, several edifices are recognised as World Heritage because they are outstanding landmarks on the route followed by pilgrims: the bridges over the Boralde in Saint Chély d'Aubrac, over the Lot in Espalion and Estaing and over the Dourdou in Conques; Sainte Foy Abbey-church in Conques, a place of pilgrimage in its own right dedicated to young Sainte Foy. Pilgrims on the Way of St James, referred to as jacquets, were advised to visit it as early as the Middle Ages;

Nasbinals (Lozère) / Aubrac / Saint-Chély-d'Aubrac : 17 km from the Aubrac plateau to its foothills; Saint Côme d'Old / Espalion / Estaing: 17 km along the Lot Valley.

Tourism and handicap

Two touch tables for the visually impaired are right close to this point, against the parapet of the Lot.
Another one has been put about a hundred metres upstream (figure 2).
The fourth is located in front of the church (figure 10).
Warning: the type of soil, the gradient in some sectors and the presence of stairs makes access to part of the discovery trail difficult for people with reduced mobility.
In the Tourist Office, there is a large-scale model of the itinerary through Aveyron of the Route to Santiago de Compostela

Must-sees

A tour circuit helps you to discover the village and the most beautiful elements of its heritage: Estaing bridge, the Collège, Saint Fleuret Church, the three-lobed cross and the Château, which are all Historic Monuments.

Facilities for you

Between Aubrac and Conques, the local authorities of the area that the Puy en Velay route to Santiago de Compostela (GR®65) runs through have carried out a series of developments to help you discover this pedestrian and cultural route that is laden with meaning and history. Information boards line the 80 km section of the route. They will provide you with the tools to discover the heritage that is visible from the route (Romanesque monuments, landscape, geology, rural life, etc.)
A multimedia application (to download free of charge to smartphones and tablets - see below) helps to guide you and give you information about services (accommodation, food, visits, etc.).
You will find extra information on the elements to discover.
Facilities have also been designed for the safety and well-being of users: picnic areas, waterless toilets, footpaths alongside roads, signposts, path maintenance, etc.

The GR® and how to use it

The greatest care is taken to maintain the route and to welcome you in our villages so that the walk is a pleasant one for you. Nevertheless, you are responsible along the way.
Please take your rubbish away with you. There are lots of litter bins and toilets along the route.
The best way to observe nature is to respect it (no loud noises or shouting, avoid walking in big groups, etc.). Do not pick flowers, do not disturb the wildlife and herds of livestock. Respect fencing and private property.
Even on foot, please abide by the Highway Code. Warning: in foggy weather, some routes may be dangerous. Start when the fog has lifted or walk along the side of the roadway.
The route is a way to open up to nature, the life of the inhabitants and the traditions and history of the towns and villages you go through:
the people of Aveyron invite you to share their convivial way of life, be curious and feel free to talk to the people you meet!

Information: Estaing Tourist Office: 05 65 44 03 22 / Web : tourisme-estaing.fr

Comité Départemental du Tourisme de l’Aveyron (Aveyron Tourist Board) : www.tourisme-aveyron.com

View of Estaing

From this point, we can make out the village quite clearly along with its successive expansions.
Starting from the château, the settlement expanded towards the barry, the first 'outer' area, and then towards the Lot as from the 15C-16C.
The village also advances along the Coussane and into the small valley skirting the Puech de l'Eglise from the west, two access routes to the Viadène plateau.
Facing us, another natural route makes it possible to get to the plateau of Campuac and the small valley of Marcillac.
There are not many houses on the left bank because the valley is so narrow and ill-exposed.

Estaing vineyard

[lo vinhal d’Estanh]

At the end of the 19C, and up until the beginning of the 20C,
vineyards covered all the south-facing slopes around Estaing. Every family used to own a plot on the slopes built in terrace form and supported by low dry-stone walls [paredors] of which you can still see signs throughout the landscape. These vineyards were also owned by abbeys and important families who gained considerable profit from selling the wine to the montanhòls, the inhabitants of the plateaux and of the Aubrac.
Estaing wines, justifiably renowned, then suffered the combined consequences of the deterioration of the vineyard (phylloxera crisis, random replanting), competition from industrial wine growing and the development of transport.
Since 1965 and the classification as a VDQS wine, Estaing wines having been experiencing new circumstances. They have been designated AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) since 2011 and make up one of the smallest terroirs in France (22 hectares) but have very real character!

Know more about Estaing vineyard

Saint-Fleuret school

[l’escòla Sant-Floret]

A former private school (1910) used to occupy this imposing town house built in 1774.
Today, it welcomes pilgrims (Saint James' Hospitality).

The presbytery

[la caminada]

Former home of the deans of Estaing.

The crypt

Here you can see the windows of the old crypt on the bases of which the 15C church was built.
The sacristy gable rests on two arches supported by a reused pillar from the old covering.

Tras castel

This street behind the castle, running alongside the eastern outer wall [clausura], gave access to the Lot.

Rue d'Oultre

Several elements are worth looking at in this street located outside the medieval walls: roof in the style of Philibert de l'Orme (shaped like an upside down boat's keel, typical of the upper Lot Valley), stone vases, bartizan with a lion's head on the corner of Rue Saint Fleuret and 14C houses.

On the route of Santiago de Compostela in Aveyron

[pel camin romiu roergàs]

The 17 kilometres from Saint Côme d'Olt to Estaing are inscribed on the World Heritage List under the 'Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France'. In the same way as the section between Nasbinals and Saint Chély d'Aubrac (17 km), the route between Saint Côme d'Olt and Estaing is one of the typical examples of what the path followed by pilgrims might have been like in the past.

Five further sections of the route from Le Puy en Velay, the Via Podiensis, in the Lot, Gers and Pyrénées Atlantiques, illustrate the route followed by pilgrims during the Middle Ages. 71 bridges and religious buildings or hospices, located in 13 regions, have also been inscribed on the World Heritage List for the same reason since 1998.
They are milestones on the routes followed by jacquets (the name given to pilgrims on their way to Santiago).
They bear witness to the spiritual and material aspects of the pilgrimage during the Middle Ages. Nowadays, these routes have opened up as hiking paths. Since the 1990s, a large number of walkers have travelled these paths, whether for cultural or spiritual reasons.

UNESCO World Heritage Géolocalisation

Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed'.
Ellen Wilkinson, Minister of Education for Great Britain at the inaugural session of UNESCO.

In 1945, the world was awakening from the nightmare of war.
On 16 November, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was set up by the League of Nations. Its aim: to build peace in the minds of men through education, science, culture and communication in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom for everyone, regardless of race, gender, language or religion.

UNESCO's action in aid of world heritage serves this cause. Inscription on the World Heritage List consists in identifying, protecting and preserving, throughout the world, the cultural and natural heritage deemed to have exceptional universal value. Its loss would be irreplaceable.
There are currently nearly 1,000 'Properties' in 160 countries inscribed on the World Heritage List, 38 of which are in France.

Saint-Côme-d’Olt / Espalion / Estaing Géolocalisation

This part of the Lot Valley is of outstanding scenic interest, despite the large-scale urbanisation of Espalion. On the right bank, the well-exposed slopes are mainly limestone. They have enabled vineyards to be planted, a major component of the Eucharistic ritual, in an area well into the Massif Central. On the left bank, the slopes, where the former cereal-growing plateau of the causse Comtal ends, bear the hallmark of a variety of volcanic formations.
The most important is Roquelaure*, a basalt lava flow that stretches out over more than two kilometres to form a ridge. The alternation of geological features is spectacular, with the presence of pebbles and alluvial deposits, red earth, limestone plateaux and schistous areas [segalars] creating extremely diverse vegetation and farming practices that have an impact on the traditional habitat.
This way has been followed by travellers and pilgrims who have enjoyed an easy communication route over this section of their journey. The Romanesque buildings that line the route (church of Perse, church of Saint Pierre de Bessuéjouls) and the bridges [pònts romius] over the Lot in Espalion and Estaing are evidence of this.

* This lava flow, an inverted relief today, shows spectacular masses of fallen rocks around its perimeter, wrongly called 'lava flow' on the tourist information boards. The local name is clapas de Thubiès.

Golinhac

[Golinhac]

From its perch up on the plateau, Golinhac overlooks the steep sides of the Lot gorges. In the 10C and 11C, the village was a viguerie, an administrative district where a viguier [vicaire] or judge meted out justice. The priory was attached to Conques abbey in 1097. Throughout the feudal period, Golinhac would be an important place for the local lords.
In the 16C, it fulfilled a pivotal role, with an administrative function (collection of censives, annual duties paid to the lord), craftworking, two fairs and a mass on Sunday that attracted flocks of country people. This prosperity would last up until the middle of the 20C. Around 1940, the village boasted 8 cafés!

The pilgrims' cross (15C), known as the cross dels roumious, is an important landmark on the route to Santiago de Compostela. Sculpted out of sandstone, it is decorated with a Virgin and Child and on its base there is a small pilgrim holding his bourdon or staff.

The cross on display is a copy dated 2014; the original one is kept inside the church. It is the showpiece of a really interesting tour of crosses that has been organised on the initiative of the Foyer Rural community hall (see map).

Where do all these names ending in ‘ac’ come from?

Golinhac, Castailhac, Espeyrac, Campuac, etc. This ending in '-ac' points to the Celtic (Rouergue used to be the territory of the Ruteni tribe) or Gallo-Roman origin of an estate.
The Celtic suffix '-acos', meaning 'domain of' subsequently changed to Latin in the form '-acum'.

Must-sees

The pre-Romanesque church, modified in the 14C and covered with rooms used as refuge in the 15C.
The lake which is a welcome stopping place. Notre Dame des Hauteurs, its stations of the cross and its viewpoint

Facilities for you

Between Aubrac and Conques, the local authorities of the area that the Puy en Velay route to Santiago de Compostela (GR®65) runs through have carried out a series of developments to help you discover this pedestrian and cultural route that is laden with meaning and history. Information boards line the 80 km section of the route. They will provide you with the tools to discover the heritage that is visible from the route (Romanesque monuments, landscape, geology, rural life, etc.)
A multimedia application (to download free of charge to smartphones and tablets - see below) helps to guide you and give you information about services (accommodation, food, visits, etc.).
You will find extra information on the elements to discover.
Facilities have also been designed for the safety and well-being of users: picnic areas, waterless toilets, footpaths alongside roads, signposts, path maintenance, etc.

The GR® and how to use it

The greatest care is taken to maintain the route and to welcome you in our villages so that the walk is a pleasant one for you. Nevertheless, you are responsible along the way.
Please take your rubbish away with you. There are lots of litter bins and toilets along the route.
The best way to observe nature is to respect it (no loud noises or shouting, avoid walking in big groups, etc.). Do not pick flowers, do not disturb the wildlife and herds of livestock. Respect fencing and private property.
Even on foot, please abide by the Highway Code. Warning: in foggy weather, some routes may be dangerous. Start when the fog has lifted or walk along the side of the roadway.
The route is a way to open up to nature, the life of the inhabitants and the traditions and history of the towns and villages you go through: the people of Aveyron invite you to share their convivial way of life, be curious and feel free to talk to the people you meet!

Information: Entraygues sur Truyère Tourist Office: 05 65 44 56 10 / Web : www.tourisme-entraygues.com

Comité Départemental du Tourisme de l’Aveyron (Aveyron Tourist Board) : www.tourisme-aveyron.com

The church

[la glèisa]

In the 15C, the feudal castle, in ruins, was turned into a church. The chevet wall, with red sandstone and granite crosses from the castle chapel*, is the oldest part of the present-day building, reconstructed in the 19C.

* It served as the parish church.

The Château

[lo castèl]

The second château in Espeyrac dates back to the 15C-16C. It was the home of the viguier, the person who managed the property belonging to the feudal overlords of Espeyrac (Armagnac-Séverac, then Arpajon).
This building was broken up into lots during the Revolution and all that remains is a lovely turret.

Espeyrac

[Espeyrac]

The old Gallo-Roman domain of Spariacus, now called Espeyrac, is mentioned in the 11C in the cartulary of Conques abbey, but it is especially through the miracle of Witbert (Guilbert) whose sight was restored, related in the Book of Miracles of Sainte Foy,
that the village became famous.
In 1356, it was fortified and became the seat of an important barony (of Arpajon) until 1661. All that remains of the medieval village is the amphitheatre-style layout on a rocky peak, steeply sloped streets and alleyways with steps. The old church was completely rebuilt at the end of the 19C.

See Richeprey travel log

Of the two châteaux, there is only a building with a turret that remains. However, there is no visible sign of the mills used to hammer iron or copper that were located along the Daze.
At the end of the 19C, Espeyrac had three annual fairs and got two extra ones, which shows just how lively this small town was.
Prior to 1914, there were three blacksmiths, a weaver (hemp for textiles), two seamstresses/milliners, a haberdasher, an inn keeper, a cobbler, a clog-maker/barber/hairdresser, tilers and more; the hustle and bustle was in complete contrast with the peacefulness of today. Welcome to our visitors!

The Miracle of Guilbert

Back from a pilgrimage to Conques, Géraud (Guilbert's godfather), who was jealous of Guilbert in whom he saw a rival, had him arrested, sentenced him to lose his sight and put out Guilbert's eyes with his own hands.
A year later, on the eve of Sainte Foy's Day, Guilbert saw the martyr in his sleep. He went to Conques and regained his sight.

The underground refuge places

[las cavas]

'At the end of the tunnel, a white stone...'. ». As in most of the villages on the plateau, there is evidence, in the memory of Espeyrac, of an underground room so that the population could flee from pillagers.
Although some of them are known (such as in Espeyrac), most of them are only hiding places, below ground, having nothing in common with the fabled long underground passages linking the church or château to a safe place.

Must-sees

A short tour to discover the village has been set up as part of developing the Route of Santiago de Compostela. It will enable you to learn about the history of the village and to discover the most significant elements relating to its heritage (see map).

The mysterious head

[lo cap estranh]

Located where the bartizan projects out of the wall, this granite head, with its rough-hewn eyes and mouth, is a complete mystery.
Is it an old sculpture worn away by time, is it a naïve work of art, or is it just a fluke of nature?
A similar sculpture can be found close by, in the hamlet of Saint Bauzels, and also in Auvergne on the Way of Saint James.

The sarcophagi

[ataücs]

The presence of several Carolingian sarcophagi, made of sandstone or granite, teaches us a little bit more about the village before the 10C, because, in those times, a cemetery also meant a church and the bases of a medieval society.
Most of these sarcophagi were reused to rebuild the church: they were used as the foundation to erect the wall, and the crosses found in the masonry are from the tops that were re-hewn.

The well

[lo potz]

Dated 1825.
Several similar wells, now disappeared, in Sénergues and at the Domaine de la Borie, were crafted by the same local mason.

The wash house

[lo lavador]

In the past, the women of Espeyrac would go to wash their laundry in the Daze.
In the Thirties, when the first water conveyance was created, the wash house was built in the middle of the village so the women didn't have to go down to the river to wash their clothes.

Cutlery

[la cotelariá]

Ironworking is very much part of Espeyrac's history. With a strong presence up until the end of the Middle Ages, it disappeared along with the last blacksmith in the middle of the 20C; it has been revived today in the Denys forge (cutlery and jewellery) with a splendid project: using local ore.

Sénergues

[Senèrgas]

Mentioned in 819, the priory of Cerniangis (former Gallo-Roman domain of Senos) developed around the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, strada conquesa, in close proximity to the influential Conques abbey.
The lovely square granite tower was built in the 14C during the Hundred Years' War as protection against the English and groups
of pillagers. The architectural foundations of the château (privately owned) date from the late 15C/early 16C.

The present-day church, rebuilt and enlarged by Antoine de Rousselet (coat of arms on the main door), dates back, in the main, to the 16C. Certain components of an earlier building have been reused: corbels, tabernacle and baptismal font made of granite. Its stained glass windows are the work of Father Ephrem Socard, a Benedictine monk from En Calcat abbey (Tarn) and a master glazier. Installed in 1965, they are made up of slabs of colour-impregnated glass, cut with a small hammer. This process creates splinters that form subtle gradations of colour with which the light constantly plays.

Once upon a time in Sénergues Géolocalisation

[Senèrgas, un còp èra]

In 1901, Sénergues had some 1,835 inhabitants (there are fewer than 500 at present!). It was a prosperous town that lived
in tune with life in the fields. There were eleven fairs, particularly famous for pigs, three blacksmiths [fabres], clog makers [esclopièrs], charcoal burners [carbonièrs], and candle makers [candelaires].
Chestnuts [castanha], which provided food for the pigs [gonhons], and even people in tough times, played a very important part in its subsistence economy from the late Middle Ages and even in its vernacular architecture with drying sheds for chestnuts [secadors] and their lean-tos [sots] for the pigs. Under the influence of Colbert, in the 17C, cultivation of chestnut trees was stepped up in many places. From that time, new plantations were introduced and flute grafting was performed.
The region was renowned for producing top quality chestnuts: such as paquette, verdalle, and maronne. Regarded as a bread tree, the chestnut tree was replaced as from 1780 by the potato introduced by Parmentier.

Rue Charlemagne

[la carrièira Carlesmanhe]

This steeply sloping, cobblestone street links the square in front of the Abbey to the faubourg [barri] and gives us a glimpse of what houses are like in Conques: the use of limestone and sandstone is just for the door and window frames and the quoins of houses. Schist is used to fill in the whole building.

Conques and Sainte Foy on the route of Santiago de Compostela

[Concas e santa Fe sul camin romiu]

After vain attempts to get hold of the relics of Saint Vincent, in 866, the monk Ariviscus managed to steal* the relics of Sainte Foy (Saint Faith or Fides), a young Christian martyred in 303, from the monastery in Agen where they were venerated. The reputation of her miracles spread: Saint Faith had the power to set prisoners free and to restore sight. Conques became an extremely important centre of pilgrimage that welcomed pilgrims from all over Europe, and who were soon joined, in the 11C and 12C, by pilgrims going to Santiago de Compostela. In the 11C, the Canso de santa Fe de Concas (Song of Saint Fides, a hagiographical poem about Saint Faith) was the earliest comprehensive literary work in European medieval literature written in the vernacular (c. 1160). It anticipates the major genres of literature in the Romance language, particularly the chansons de geste or songs of heroic deeds.

Liber sancti Jacobi Géolocalisation

The Liber sancti Jacobi (the Book of Saint James) is written in the Codex Calixtinus (from the name of Pope Callixtus II who apparently initiated this work) and is an illuminated manuscript written between 1130 and 1140 and kept at Santiago de Compostela. It comprises 225 double-sided folios in five volumes: Book I: Book of the Liturgies concerning the life and martyrdom of Saint James, Book II: the Book of Miracles, Book III: the Book of transfer of St James's body to Santiago, Book IV: the history of Charlemagne and Roland and Book V: a Guide for the Pilgrim.
Book V mentions Conques and Sainte Foy: 'The most precious body of the blessed Foy, virgin and martyr, was buried with honour by Christians in a valley commonly known as Conques; above it was built a beautiful basilica in which, to the glory of God, even to this day the rule of Saint Benedict is observed with the greatest of care; many favours are granted to people in good health and to the sick; in front of the basilica doors flows an excellent spring whose powers are even more wonderful than one can say. Her saint's day is October 6th'.

* This transfer of relics, which were greatly revered, was common in the Middle Ages

Know more about the Codex Calixtinus

Facilities for you Géolocalisation

Between Aubrac and Conques, the local authorities of the area that the Puy en Velay route to Santiago de Compostela (GR®65) runs through, have carried out a series of developments to help you discover this pedestrian and cultural route that is laden with history and meaning.
Information boards line the 80 km section of the route. They will provide you with the tools to discover the heritage that is visible from the route (Romanesque monuments, landscape, geology, rural life, etc.).
A multimedia application (to download free of charge to smartphones and tablets – see QR code below) helps to guide you and give you information about services (accommodation, food, visits, etc.).
You will find extra information on the elements to discover. Facilities have also been designed for the safety and well-being of users: picnic areas, waterless toilets, footpaths alongside roads, signposts, path maintenance, etc.

Sainte-Foy chapel

[la capèla Santa-Fe]

According to the legend, Sainte Foy Chapel is built on the spot where the monk, who was bringing back the relics of Sainte Foy (Saint Faith) from Agen (9C), fell from exhaustion. It was then that the saint, in a dream, asked him: 'Vòls de vin per un jorn o d'aiga per totjorn?' ('Do you want wine for a day or water for ever?').
Choosing water, he struck the rock with his staff. Since that day, a spring with healing and health-giving powers has flown forth below the chapel.
People of old used to make a pilgrimage here and rub their eyes with this water in the hope of a cure.

Conques is nestled in a naturally shell-shaped site (concha in Latin). When founding the monastery in 819, Emperor Louis the Pious gave Conques its name.
Ermold the Black, poet to the court, described Conques as the 'refuge of wild beasts and melodious birds'.
You can see the abbey-church that towers above the whole village, made up of half-timbered houses [corondatges] clinging
to the hillside and tiled with lauze stone slates.

A pilgrimage church

Like other great Romanesque churches on the Way of Saint James (Saint Sernin in Toulouse and Santiago de Compostela), Sainte Foy Abbey-church in Conques has a typical layout so that pilgrims can be made welcome and move around.
The nave (1) and the side aisles (2) lead to the transept (3) continued on by the ambulatory (4) onto which the apsidioles open (5). The chancel (6) used to house relics and shrines comprising the renowned treasure of silver and gold plate which is today on display in one of the cloister wings.

Bridge over the Dourdou

'Throughout the Middle Ages, Santiago de Compostela was the supreme goal for countless thousands of pious pilgrims who converged there from all over Europe. To reach Spain pilgrims had to pass through France and the group of important historical monuments included in this inscription on the World Heritage List marks out the routes by which they did so.'

UNESCO letter of notification sent to the French government on 29 December 1998.

This 14C bridge (known as the Roman bridge on account of the wrong Frenchifying of the word 'romièu', which used to describe a pilgrim in the langue d'oc) is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Given the influx of pilgrims from the 11C onwards, an older bridge probably came before this one.